By Olusegun Olanrewaju (Lagos), David Lawani and Cross Udo (Abuja)
The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, was absent yesterday as presidential candidates of other political parties signed the 2023 election peace pact.
His absence has triggered curiosity in several columns, but Tinubu’s running mate, Kashim Shettima, was, however, present at the signing.
Others present at the ceremony were the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Atiku Abubakar Peter Obi, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, among others.
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The peace pact organised by the National Peace Committee (NPC) was chaired by a former military head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.).
Recall that Abdulsalami had last week, after a meeting with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said that the candidates would sign two accords.
According to the former military ruler, the one to be signed yesterday is to ensure a rancour-free and fair campaign devoid of acrimony, while the other one on accepting the outcome of the result, will be signed in January.
*’Benefits of the accord’
At the signing ceremony yesterday, President Muhammadu Buhari recalled the effectiveness of the accord with Jonathan and other presidential candidates in the build-up to the 2015 elections, noting that contributed largely to the peaceful outcome of the polls.
Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, in a statement, quoted the president as confirming the potency of the pact when he received the National Peace Committee (NPC) by the Abdulsalami Abubakar-led panel at the State House, Abuja.
The president urged all the signatories to the 2023 election Peace Accord, and their supporters, to abide by its content and spirit, in line with the 2015 experiment.
According to Buhari, the signing of the First National Peace Accord by presidential candidates in the 2023 election, earlier at a separate event yesterday was aimed at committing political parties, aspirants, and their supporters, to conduct their campaigns peacefully, in an atmosphere devoid of ethnic, religious and hate speeches, that could mar the upcoming elections.
The president said, “The timing of the First National Peace Accord is significant considering political party campaigns have already commenced in the country.
“The initiatives undertaken by the NPC are commendable as these efforts would ensure issue-based campaigns. I look forward to the second phase of the signing of the National Peace Accord coming up in January 2023.”
He added, “You may recall that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and I signed the first National Peace Accord before the 2015 elections. It is my conviction that it contributed significantly to the peaceful outcome of the 2015 election. I hope that the National Peace Committee continues this important work, post-2023.”
The president also reiterated that credible, free, and fair elections can only be achieved in a peaceful environment, adding that the signing of the Electoral Act 2021, as amended with landmark provisions, underlined his resolve for a transparent and all-inclusive electoral process.
Buhari urged all stakeholders to conduct themselves in a manner that would ensure the successful conduct of the general elections in 2023 as well as a smooth transition from one democratically elected government to another.
Briefing the president on the activities of the committee in the build-up to the next year’s election, the president said they had met with various stakeholders, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the heads of security agencies, who were reassured of their preparedness to conduct the polls creditably.
Abdulsalami also informed the president that the membership of the committee had been expanded to bring in some ‘‘young minds’’.
He expressed confidence that the committee would do its utmost to ensure that all political actors live up to expectations.
The NPC chairman also lauded President Buhari for repeatedly reaffirming his commitment to fairness in the 2023 elections, particularly at international outings.
He noted with delight that the off-season elections in Anambra, Ekiti, and the Osun states had confirmed President Buhari’s ‘irreversible commitment’ to credible and violence-free polls in the country.
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Also, Buhari charged stakeholders in the Nigerian political landscape to avoid allowing the poison of fake news and misinformation to derail the 2023 election campaigns from focusing on issues.
The President lamented that the rise of fake news and misinformation has continued to pose a significant threat to democracy in Nigeria.
He said fake news and misinformation had shifted focus away from issue-based campaigns to amplifying the potential for personal attacks, insults, and incitements.
In another statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, welcomed the National Peace Committee’s initiative to get all political actors to commit to issue-based campaigns, devoid of the mentioned vices.
He added that the vices of personal attacks, insults, and incitements in campaigns had significantly diminished the civility and decency in public discourse and debate.
*INEC warns: ‘Signing of pact not enough
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has sounded a note of warning to political parties and their candidates to show more than a commitment to ensuring that peace and stability reign before, during, and after the elections, most especially now that campaigns have started.
To this end, the commission has promised to monitor political parties’ campaigns and expenses for the 2023 general elections to ensure compliance with the laws, among other measures.
Yakubu gave this warning during the signing of the Peace Accord for a peaceful campaign organised by the National Peace Committee (NPC) held at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja, as part of efforts to sustain a violence-free campaign, which is a precursor to a credible election in 2023.
The INEC chairman reiterated that all the 18 political parties who are to compete for the various positions must see beyond the commencement of the campaign peace accord, but rather demonstrate their commitment to abide by the ethics and letters of the initiators of the peace initiative.
He said, “The 2023 general election will be conducted for 1,491 constituencies nationwide, made up of one presidential constituency, 28 governorship elections, 109 senatorial districts, 360 federal constituencies, and 993 state assembly constituencies.
“Every constituency is important. Every election is important. Therefore, the commitment to a peaceful and issue-based electioneering campaign should resonate beyond the 18 party chairmen and presidential candidates present here today.
“It is not enough to simply sign the peace accord. What is more important is to abide by its letter and spirit. You should similarly pass the message to all your candidates, members, and supporters across the country, for compliance. This will be your way of showing appreciation for the work of the NPC, and an affirmation of your contribution to electoral peace in Nigeria.”
Yakubu added, “Twice in 2015 and 2019, political parties and candidates committed themselves to peaceful elections by signing the national peace accord organised by the NPC. The success of the national peace accord at the national level for general election led to demands by stakeholders for the devolution of the same effort to major off-cycle elections at the state level.
“In response, the NPC organised the peace accord ahead of the governorship elections in Edo State in September 2020, and subsequently in four more elections. The result is not only the peaceful conduct of these elections, but the process keeps improving one election after another,” he stated.
The INEC chairman said the NPC is taking another giant step by inviting parties and candidates to commit to peaceful electioneering campaigns, saying this is important considering the connection between peaceful campaigns on the one hand and peaceful and credible elections on the other.
He said the commission appreciates the positive role of the NPC in the progressive improvement of elections in Nigeria.
*Adamu’s denial of trouble
In the wake of the absence of Tinubu at the accord signing ceremony yesterday, rumours started flowing about the reason for his absence. Though the APC presidential candidate has been rumoured to have travelled overseas on medical grounds, insinuations started flying around that Tinubu ‘deliberately avoided’ the signing ceremony.
This triggered rumours that a crisis could be building in the party, particularly in the wake of a circulating ‘letter’ that the National Chairman of APC, Abdullahi Adamu, was accusing Tinubu of pursuing an undemocratic agenda by ‘running a one-man show.
But, the APC yesterday disowned the statement credited to the party’s national chair that was leading to ‘perceived’ infighting in the constitution of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).
It will be recalled that the party’s PCC director-general, Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, had earlier said the inability of the PCC to kick off its peace walk and prayers was due to the need to make the campaign council more accommodating for all.
He said, “However, due to the expansion of the list to accommodate more stakeholders and interests within the APC family, we have decided to adjust the timetable of these activities to ensure everyone is on board before activities officially commence.
“Consequently, the activities earlier announced for the 28th of September will no longer hold.”
The campaign DG added, “Recall that we had earlier earmarked a peace walk and prayers for Wednesday, September 28, 2022, to officially kick off our campaigns for the 2023 presidential elections.
“We had also announced that the members of the campaign council report at the campaign headquarters on that day to collect their letters of appointments.”.
But in a twist, the National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, in an attempt to douse the tension, stated in a statement that the said draft letter flying around from the national chairman was unsigned, and such could not have been accepted as the party is concerned about facing the issues in the country.
According to him, “Our attention has been drawn to a “DRAFT” letter in circulation purportedly written by His Excellency, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the national chairman of our great party, addressed to His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of our great party, expressing dissatisfaction over the recently-released list of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).
“To be clear, the “DRAFT” letter did not emanate from the party. An UNSIGNED letter that marks itself as a ‘DRAFT’ cannot, and should not be attributed to its purported author.
“The national chairman of our party and our presidential candidate, maintain cordial and effective communication channels and enjoy full liberty of open and frank conversations on matters of interest to the party and our presidential campaign.
“As such, an unsigned “DRAFT” letter of the kind in circulation is patently unnecessary, and of no qualitative value to engagement between the party and the PCC.
“We will not be distracted by the wishes and actions of detractors that wait gleefully, but in vain for some kind of crisis to erupt between the party and the PCC.
“We stand united, as a party, in our resolve and commitment to execute a focused and issue-driven campaign to persuade Nigerians to renew our mandate in next year’s general election.”
