The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Donald Duke, on Thursday, said there was no need for the peace accord being signed by presidential candidates, adding that the country has laws to deal with electoral defaulters.
He urged the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), to increase the tempo of voter’s education and decisively deal with electoral offenders especially vote buyers, in a bid to sanitise the system.
The former Cross River State governor said this after a public presentation of a book entitled ‘The Coming Revolution: A Manifesto for National Greatness,’ authored by Prof. Iyorwuese Hagher, in Abuja.
His words: “They is really no need for peace accord because we have laws. We just want to show that we are coming into the race.
“They are laws that deal with those who don’t want to respect the norms of the society. In a sane society it ought not to be so.”
Duke, who had earlier signed the deal, however, commended the process, stressing that it would tame political leaders from orchestrating violence in 2019 elections.
“The peace accord is necessary. It is one of the fundamental thing to do. You can’t have elections of violence. INEC must do the right thing by increasing voter’s education.
“INEC should live up to its responsibility by sanctioning candidates involved in vote buying so that everybody will fall in line. Until we do that people will continue to do whatever they like.”
He, further noted that the continuous migration of Nigerians to other countries in search of greener pastures had made them: “engender species not just to the neighbouring countries but the world.”