The National Peace Committee on Thursday called for calm as 28 states go to the polls to elect their governors and legislators on Saturday.

The organisation expressed worry over what it described “open threats of intimidation and violence by certain elements within the society.”

The Chairman of the NPC and former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), in a statement issued in Abuja, said the call was necessitated by the open threats of intimidation and violence by certain elements within society who are using ethnic and religious labels to achieve their intentions of voters’ suppression.

Abdusalami said the NPC had been following up with the same appeal that it made ahead of the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25, 2023.

He said, “The presidential and National Assembly elections have come and gone. However, problems have arisen from the process of the collation, transmission and release of the final results. This has generated the crisis that we now find ourselves in. Notwithstanding all these, we are pleased and encouraged by the mature attitudes of the candidates who contested the presidential election.

“We are encouraged by the restraint they have exhibited and  their commitment to seek justice through due process. This is in keeping with the spirit of the Peace Accord. We, therefore, appeal to the supporters of all the parties and our citizens to please follow the good example of their leaders and remain law-abiding till the process is brought to an end.

“This weekend, on March 18, 2023, the second round of elections for the governorship and state Houses of Assembly will be conducted. We are worried by the open threats of intimidation and violence by certain elements within society who are using ethnic and religious labels to achieve their intentions of voters’ suppression.

“We appeal to the security and law enforcement agencies to remain alert and to bring to book anyone, no matter their position in society, who poses a threat to the peaceful conduct of the elections. We encourage all citizens not to be intimidated and to go out and exercise their God-given rights.”

On behalf of the National Peace Committee, Abubakar expressed gratitude to  peace-loving Nigerians, including  the security agencies.

He prayed that the Independent  National Electoral Commission would do everything possible to ensure that the elections would be peaceful so as to gain the confidence of citizens.