In a bid to have a peaceful elections in 2019, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Akwa Ibom State have embarked on education of its candidates as well as supporters in order to shun hate speeches during the electioneering campaign period or perpetrating any form of violence.
The party further argued that the campaigns must be issue based and not to denigrate other people.
The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt.Hon. Onofiok Luke who revealed this in an interaction with journalists in Uyo, the state capital said that the party had established a legal desk which will ensure that candidates are campaigning and doing everything within the provision of the law.
He maintained that a group of lawyers have been contracted to educate their teeming supporters, candidates and media handlers on issues” such as: broadcast code, libel, slander and defamation.
The Speaker stressed that such orientation reflected in the concluded primaries of the party in the state as neither violence nor bloodshed was recorded.
Luke further stated that the peaceful disposition of the state party leader, governor Udom Emmanuel had actually engendered peace and tranquility in the party in particular and the state in general, stating that secuirty has returned to the state, a situation that has propelled many including himself to support the governor.
He said, ”The security challenges like kidnappings and all forms of violence experienced in the state in the past have been checked.
“We don’t have issues of very dicey security like child abduction and even the issue of militancy anymore due to the leadership disposition and grace of God upon the life of the governor and his character; he has been able to engender peace in the state. For the sake of that peace to continue, we want him to be re-elected.
“The governor has through his industrialisation programmes built industries in the state that were non existent in the 31 years of the state’s creation. If the previous governments were able to build at least one cottage industry every year, by now we would have had about 31 cottage industires.”
