James Entwistle, US Ambassador to Nigeria has said that Rivers State is important to Nigeria and the world at large.
“River State and Nigeria, in particular, are very important to the world. The desire of the international community is to see a peaceful, violent-free election next month,” the Ambassador said.
He added that, “The candidates should tell their supporters to ensure that they do not do anything that will cause violence during the election or after it. That is our desire. That is what the world wants to see, because Nigeria is very important.”
The Ambassador’s comments followed rising tensions among political gladiators in Rivers State.
To ensure that peace reigns, the Ambassador has brokered peace among the major candidates vying for the governorship seat in the state.
The US Ambassador achieved this by bringing the key political players in the state to a round table where they signed a peace pact, pledging not to be violent, before, during or after the February 28 poll in the oil rich state.
The peace pact-signing event which was held at the L’Meridien Hotel, Port Harcourt, was witnessed by religious leaders, Gesila Khan, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and security officers among other stakeholders.
While overseeing the signing of the peace agreement among the three governorship candidates: Dakuku Peterside, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nyesom Wike, of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Tonye Princewill, of the Labour Party, LP, Entwistle, urged the candidates to preach peace to their followers and prevail on them to shun all forms of violence before, during and after the election no matter the outcome of the exercise.
In response, the candidates commended the efforts of the US Ambassador and promised to keep to their words and instruct their supporters to also respect the agreement.
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