Gombe Chief of Staff Alhaji Abubakar Inuwa Kari has said the refusal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to sign the Peace Accord for the 2023 general election is a clear sign of irresponsibility.
The PDP gubernatorial candidate Alhaji Jibrin Barde declined signing the Peace Accord, blaming the police and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for not responding to the allegations of series of attacks on his office and campaign billboards.
Gombe PDP Chairman, Major General Amnon Kwaskebe rtd said the decision of Barde not to attend the meeting has the backing of the party leaders.
But Kari in an exclusive chat with The Nation said there is no reason for any politician or party to refuse signing of the Peace Accord for the election.
“To me some of the complaints by the opposition parties are just a sign of losers crying out early, particularly the PDP. Their refusal to sign the Peace Accord is a clear sign of irresponsibility. If a Peace Accord is designed by INEC and security agencies, I do not see the reason why a political party will refuse to sign because of one or two complaints.
“I don’t have the details of their complaints but I know that in the election period you don’t always have it that smooth. We also suffered one or two attacks like that but by and large, I will give the security agencies a pass mark because they have been up and doing.
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“So far, the campaigns are going on with minimum violence. If the party signs the Peace Accord, it shows that they are for peace but not signing it shows clearly that they are the ones instigating troubles and they want to continue to instigate troubles. I hope the security agencies will do the needful when such things happen.”
Kari expressed confidence that Governor Yahaya’s record will speak for him in the election saying “we have delivered 85 to 90 percent of our promises in 2019.
“We have been able to deliver even those things that we did not put in our manifesto, One of such examples is the Industrial Park.”
But Gombe Commissioner of Police Oquam Etim described the complaints of the PDP as wild, saying they cannot point to at least one person as the perpetrator.
“It is unfortunate that PDP out of eighteen parties decided not to be part of the signing of the peace accord. When we talk about destruction of the billboards was it only PDP billboards that were destroyed?
“So if you have problems with billboards, do billboards have PVC? Can billboards vote?
You see, when you make such wild allegations, then you should prove it. Have they come out to say that Mr. A bought PVC from Mr. B? If you have genuine complaints, then you come with your petition, we are here to investigate,” he said.
INEC Commissioner, Alhaji Umar Ibrahim said he was not surprised that the PDP gubernatorial candidate Alhaji Jibrin Barde was not at the signing of the peace accord because the commission is not forcing anybody to sign it even though it is in our collective interest.
The electoral umpire said it is fair enough that eighty percent of those involved have already signed the accord.
He said the act of buying PVCs by political parties is not normal because the new technology deployed for the election this time around will not recognize any PVC that does not belong to the owners.
“So it is pointless buying PVCs. Anybody that comes on election day with PVC that is not his own will definitely not be accredited,” he said.