Report: How Abdulsalami-led National Peace Committee was Pressured to Halt 2023 Presidential Election

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The National Peace Committee (NPC) headed by a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) has narrated how it came under intense pressure from unnamed persons to persuade the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to either halt the collation of results of the 2023 presidential election or cancel the election entirely due to an alleged violation of the Electoral Act and non-adherence to the peace accord signed by the political parties and their candidates.

The committee made these revelations in Abuja on Friday in its 106-page report on the 2023 General Election, titled ‘Nigeria’s Pursuit of Electoral Compliance: National Peace Committee NPC 2023 General Elections Report’.
The NPC report highlighted the immense pressure exerted on the committee during the election process, explaining that partisan forces sought to influence the election outcome through various means.

According to NPC, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced during the election and recommendations for improving future electoral processes in Nigeria.
Before the public presentation of the report, the NPC had earlier met with INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and other senior management staff of the commission.

During the meeting, they were briefed on INEC’s preparations for the upcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states.
Part of the report reads: “As the election day progressed, criticisms and counter-criticisms became abundant. The NPC was already being faced with a flurry of phone calls and the need to call INEC to order. The Peace Committee was flooded with requests for intervention. Both the Chairman of the committee, General Abdulsalami A. Abubakar; the Convener, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah and the Head of NPC Secretariat, Fr. Atta Barkindo, were inundated with calls, requests, and petitions demanding the intervention of the NPC.

“Some of the requests wanted the NPC to prevail on INEC to stop collating election results because there were gross violations and lack of compliance with the Electoral Act. Others demanded that the tenets of the Peace Accord signed were not adhered to and therefore the committee should call for cancellation of the election entirely.

“The most significant call was related to the 25 per cent threshold for Abuja as the Federal Capital Territory. Some of the analysts who reached out to the committee asked that the final election result should not be announced because the presumptive president-elect did not score the required 25 per cent as stated in the Electoral Act. If anything, there should be a runoff,” the report explained.

The report cited the Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy, which described the “silence of the National Peace Committee (NPC) as deafening despite the avalanche of election petitions and likely far-reaching outcomes that could follow the decisions.”
According to the report, the Centre stated that the NPC led by General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) had before the 2023 elections engaged political leaders on the need for a peaceful and credible election.

The report further stated that the Centre alleged that what was missing was a post-election formal statement of the NPC on the outcome of the election and the sort of intervention needed to prevent widespread violence.
“The biggest bone of contention was the significance of the 25 per cent threshold for the FCT, the vacuum created by pre-election legal interpretation that was not given by INEC.

“Within the general context of the mandate of the Peace Committee, there were requests that demanded the committee to go beyond its mandate and to interfere in an electoral process that only agencies empowered by law can do so.
“The interventions provided by the NPC are purely and squarely moral, particularly in a context where trust deficit is widespread, the culture of impunity and lack of compliance with laws. The mandate is founded on the need to promote peace, prevent widespread violence, and encourage parties and candidates to uphold the rule of law,” the report said.

The report added that the NPC had no mandate to arrest violators of process or interfere with the constitutional duties of INEC, adding that it was set up to provide moral intervention, defined by mediation and moral persuasion to ensure that there is peace.
“It is also expected to, on behalf of public interest, speak truth to power when things are going wrong. After the presidential elections, the NPC has continued with its engagements with political parties, youth, and women-led groups, persons with disabilities, security agencies, traditional rulers, and religious leaders, including the Independent State-based Peace Architectures,” the report added.

“Most people are not aware that the NPC provides only a moral intervention, and it has no constitutional duty to arrest, punish, or prosecute any citizen for any wrongdoing. Rather, the committee has the moral obligation to encourage, persuade, and appeal to political actors, community leaders, and other stakeholders on the importance of peace. This limited awareness has forced some Nigerians to question the significance of engaging with the NPC if only what the committee brings to the table is moral persuasion. This is a challenge for the work of the committee,” the committee added.

Other members of the peace committee are Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe (Vice Chairman); Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah (Convener); Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III; John Cardinal Onaiyekan; business icons, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola; Vanguard Newspapers Publisher, Sam Amuka Pemu; Ameze Guobadia; Idayat Hassan; Dame Priscilla Kuye; Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd); Mahmud Yayale Ahmed; Channels TV owner, John Momoh; Roseline Ukeje; and Head of its Secretariat, Fr. Atta Barkindo.