Two governorship candidates in the forthcoming general elections in Lagos State on Monday signed a Peace Pledge committing them to non-violence before, during and after the elections.
The Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Jimi Agbaje and All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Akin Ambode signed the plede at the official residence of the United States Consul-General in Lagos, Jeffrey Hawkins, in the presence of the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, James F. Entwistle, as well as Nigerian religious leaders.
Other signatories to the document include Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Imam Abdulrahman Ahmad, National Missioner of Ansar-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, Senior Pastor and prelate of House on the Rock, and Sheikh Abdurrahman Adangba, National Missioner of Fatil-ul-Qareeb Islamic Society.
The U.S. Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, had joined several other people calling for a violence-free elections when he visited Nigeria in January.
Mr Kerry spoke with the presidential candidates of the two main parties, President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr Kerry, in a meeting with General Buhari in Ikoyi, Lagos, said that the United States President, Barrack Obama, was interested in Nigeria, being the largest economy in Africa.
He also said that the U.S. was concerned about Nigeria’s security situation because of the threat that Boko Haram has posed in recent times.
This will be the second meeting the American authorities have held with only candidates of the two major political parties in Nigeria.