Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto has revealed that President Bola Tinubu, during his time as presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, did not sign the National Peace Accord.
Kukah, a key member of the National Peace Committee, made this disclosure on Sunday during the Edo Election Security Townhall in Benin City.
The National Peace Accord, which has become a significant tradition in Nigerian elections over the past decade, is meant to promote non-violence and peaceful conduct among political parties and their candidates. However, Kukah emphasized that signing the accord is not mandatory, as it holds moral, not legal, weight. “The National Peace Committee, what we do is not in the Electoral Act; it’s not law; it’s moral. You can’t compel people to fall in love or love their neighbour,” Kukah stated.
He noted that while the failure to sign the peace pact may send the wrong message to the electorate, the committee cannot force any candidate to sign. Kukah cited the 2019 elections as an example, where the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, initially missed the signing of the accord but signed it later after public criticism.
According to Kukah, the opposition missed an opportunity to exploit Tinubu’s absence from the signing of the peace pact. “The current president, when he was a presidential candidate, did not sign; it wasn’t our fault that the political opposition didn’t take advantage of it,” he added.
Despite this, Kukah reiterated that the committee has no legal authority to take action against any candidate who refuses to sign the peace accord, but the decision not to sign can be politically exploited by opponents.
