POLITICS 21/01/2023
Elections: National Peace Committee, INEC, Candidates Meet Over Accord Violations
As campaigns ramp up towards the forthcoming general elections, the National Peace Committee (NPC) met with some presidential candidates and other stakeholders on breaches to the Peace Accord signed in September 2022.
In attendance were the presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, and African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore; as well as the vice presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ifeanyi Okowa; and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Bishop Isaac Idahosa.
Also present were the Chairman of the NPC, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd); Secretary, Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah; and Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III.
Others in attendance were leaders of political parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigeria Police, and civil society organisations.
Chairman of the Committee and former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd), assured stakeholders that the Peace Committee will address their concerns.
“The purpose of this meeting. We have taken note of your observation and I am going to see what can be done at the next meeting,” he stated.
One of the members of the Peace Committee, Dr John Momoh, OON, told journalists after the meeting that the gathering is geared towards ensuring a peaceful and credible election.
“The main objective is for us to be able to come together as Nigerians and ensure that the electoral process is one that we will be very proud of and that at the end of the day, we will have a peaceful election,” Dr.Momoh, who is the Chairman of Channels Media Group, said.
“A lot of people spoke about justice and some of their experiences in some of the states. Again we are going to go back to the Chairman who is the leader of the group to see how we can make representations also to the governors, speak to the political parties chairmen and the candidates to see how we can all sink our differences to make sure we can all work together for the greater good.
“When the process is free, fair and peaceful, then we will all be happy for it. At the end of the day, it is the common good that is very important.”