The United States consul general John Bray has urged Rivers people to “Vote and not to fight” in the forthcoming elections.
The US consul general made the assertion during a Rivers peace concert organised by a popular music legend 2 Face Idibia whose real name is Innocent Idibia in conjunction with Youth Star Development Initiative Foundation (YDI),Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI),National Democratic Institute (NDI),”Vote Not Fight”, with the support of USAID, UKAID .
He said”We are here for credible,transparent,free and fair elections, we do not have preferred candidate “.
In his remarks, the Rivets state coordinator of MAJI,Mr Onyekachi Okoro said”vote not fight campaign is about young people “.
He revealed that the campaign is aimed at talking to young people not to indulge in violence before,during and after elections.
“We are campaigning that young people cannot be used as tool for violence, election are suppose to be devoid of violence”, Mr.Okoro said
For his part,the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) in Rivers state,Obo Effang said “INEC is ready to conduct credible elections in the state”.
In his own contribution, the Executive Director of YDI,Kingsley Bangwell hinted that the group have been going from city to city preaching the message of “Vote not fight” in the forthcoming elections “.He urged the voters to come out and vote for candidates of their choice on election day.
The Rivers state Director of National Orientation Agency(NOA) Young Ayotamuno in his own speech advised the Youths to shun hate speech,spreading of fake news before,during and after election s.
He also cautioned the electorates not to Indulge in vote buying
The popular music icon Innocent Idibia,AKA 2 BABA for his part said”We are here to promote peace in Rivers state,we need to use our head not to cause violence and respect each other people’s choice during elections “.
Ben Aga,the national president of NDI in his contribution outlined vote trading,unlawful possession of voters card,bribery and conspiracy, threatening of other voters as an offence punishable under the law.He advised the electorates not to indulge in any of such act.
The Commissioner of Police in Rivers state,CP Usman Belel in his own submission urged the voters to shun politicians who will want to use them as a tool for violence.
Revelation Agents correspondent who monitored the event reports that highlights of the event include taking a pledge to vote and not to fight by all the participants
Earlier, so many artist took turn to perform on stage to entertain the participants
