Ahead of next month’s general elections, the governorship candidates and party chairmen in Kwara State will tomorrow sign a peace accord, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.

The State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Emmanuel Onucheyo, spoke on the development yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, at a stakeholders’ meeting.

He urged political parties and politicians to conduct themselves peacefully.

Onucheyo said INEC had distributed 711,920 permanent voter cards (PVCs) of the 1,032,970 received in the state.

The REC said the figure represented 69 per cent of the total PVCs collected, adding that the cards for participants in the continuous voter registration were being processed.

The stakeholders’ session was attended by representatives of the political parties, security agencies, labour unions, among others.

Onucheyo said two polling units in Ekiti Local Government Area, where PVCs were snatched, were being processed for replacement.

The REC urged the residents to collect their PVCs, adding that those without the card would not be allowed to vote.

He said: “The PVCs of CVR and transfer cases are also being processed. They will be distributed as soon as they are received from the national headquarters. Card readers will be used in the 2015 general elections for accreditation.”

On the by-election into the House of Assembly, the REC explained that after consultation, it was resolved that the general elections had overtaken it.

In June last year, the lawmaker representing Kaiama state constituency, Haliru Mohammed, died.

Onucheyo urged stakeholders to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections.

Police Commissioner Salihu Garuba, who was represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police Zanna Ibrahim, said the force was committed to peaceful polls.

The state Director of the State Security Service (SSS), Mr. Alkali Tanimu, promised that security agencies would be neutral, fair and professional in their conduct.