ADC Defends Atiku’s Peace Accord Boycott, Says Committee Ignored Election Violence

The African Democratic Congress(ADC),  has defended the decision of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to stay away from the signing of the 2027 National Peace Accord, describing the move as a deliberate protest against what it called the committee’s failure to hold politicians accountable for electoral violence.

ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made the party’s position known on Friday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, insisting that the peace accord had become a ceremonial exercise with little impact on preventing violence during elections.

According to Abdullahi, political parties have signed similar agreements in every election cycle, yet incidents of killings, intimidation and harassment continue without meaningful intervention from the National Peace Committee.

“We’ve been signing this thing year in, year out, every election cycle; we sign in support of this commitment. Things still happen; people still get killed, harassed, like in the case of Osun, but we don’t hear the Peace Committee say anything. They don’t condemn the killings,” he said.

He cited the recent Osun State governorship election as an example, alleging that inflammatory comments made by Senator Francis Fadahunsi before the poll went unchallenged by the peace committee.

“When Senator Fadahunsi said that they should go out and kill people, we didn’t hear the Peace Committee say anything. So, what is the point? So, it’s our (ADC) way of saying no,” Abdullahi stated.

The ADC spokesman said the party’s boycott was intended to send a message that the National Peace Committee must go beyond organising signing ceremonies and actively enforce the commitments made by political actors.

“If we want to be part of this, if you want to be taking us seriously, then you need to up your game,” he said.

Abdullahi further argued that political leaders, regardless of their office, should be publicly called out when their comments are capable of inciting violence.

He accused President Bola Tinubu of making remarks that allegedly encouraged violence during the Osun election and criticised the committee for remaining silent.

“When the President said all is fair in politics, he set the narrative for the violence that followed in the Osun election. We didn’t hear the Peace Committee say, ‘No, Mr President, that is not a good thing to say.’

“We are saying you need to do more. It’s not just to gather us for the ceremony of signing. If we commit to something, you have to be able to ask people to abide by it,” Abdullahi added.

The first phase of the National Peace Accord was signed on Tuesday, a day before campaigns officially commenced for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections. The accord is designed to promote peaceful political engagement, issue-based campaigns and non-violence before, during and after the elections.

Several presidential candidates and political leaders signed the agreement, including the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who urged Nigerians to reject candidates who violate the accord and called for credible, violence-free elections.

President Tinubu and Atiku were, however, absent from the ceremony, unlike in the 2023 election cycle when both candidates participated in person.

Tinubu was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, who reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to peaceful elections and rejected electoral violence, hate speech, misinformation and incitement on social media.

Also speaking at the event, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, pledged the commission’s neutrality and urged political parties to make the 2027 campaigns a “marketplace of ideas” focused on solutions rather than conflict.

Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and member of the National Peace Committee, Matthew Kukah, appealed to politicians to ensure that elections lead to measurable improvements in Nigerians’ lives.

The absence of both Atiku and Tinubu has continued to generate reactions, with African Action Congress(AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore and Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo criticising the President’s absence and arguing that it undermined the seriousness of the peace process.