Matthew Hassan-Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto State and a convenor of the National Peace Committee, revealed that President Bola Tinubu did not sign the peace accord for the 2023 elections.
His remarks come in response to the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) recent refusal to sign a similar peace pact ahead of the Edo State gubernatorial election scheduled for September 21.
The PDP’s boycott of the peace pact, which they viewed as a pre-election ritual, was attributed to allegations against the police.
At a town hall organized by Channels Television, Kukah acknowledged that while the peace committee, led by former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, cannot compel candidates to sign the peace accord, the refusal sends a troubling message.
“What the committee 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.
Kukah also noted that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential candidate in 2019, initially did not sign the peace accord but later did so after initial criticism.
“The current president (Tinubu), when he was a presidential candidate, did not sign; it wasn’t our fault that the political opposition didn’t take advantage of it,” Kukah added.
He emphasized that not signing the peace accord could send a negative signal that might be exploited by opponents.
Recall that Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate in 2023, also did not sign the peace accord in September 2022 but was represented by his then running mate, now Vice President Kashim Shettima.
