On Friday, the National Peace Committee (NPC) revealed behind-the-scenes pressures and maneuvers during the 2023 Presidential Election, including intense demands to persuade the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to halt result collation or cancel the election.
The NPC, chaired by former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, presented its 106-page report titled “Nigeria’s Pursuit of Electoral Compliance: National Peace Committee NPC 2023 General Elections Report” in Abuja.
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Prior to the public release of the report, the committee met with INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and other commission officials to review preparations for the upcoming gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo states.
The NPC is composed of various prominent figures including Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe (Vice Chairman), Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah (Convener), Sultan of Sokoto Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, business leaders Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, Vanguard Newspapers Publisher Sam Amuka Pemu, and several others.
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The report details the overwhelming criticism and pressure the NPC faced as Election Day progressed. The committee was bombarded with phone calls and requests for intervention, with General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Bishop Kukah, and Fr. Atta Barkindo receiving numerous demands to take action regarding the election.
“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% 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 resumptive president-elect did not score the required 25% as stated in the electoral act. If anything, there should be a runoff.
“For example, the Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy described the silence of National Peace Committee (NPC) as deafening in spite of the avalanche of election petitions and likely far-reaching outcomes that could follow the decisions. The Centre stated that the NPC led by General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd) had prior to the 2023 elections engaged political leaders on the need for a peaceful and credible election. However, 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% 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 is purely and squarely moral, particularly in a context that 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 NPC has no mandate to arrest violators of process or interfere with the constitutional duties of INEC. It is 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 terribly wrong. After the presidential elections, the NPC has continued with its engagements with political parties, youth and women led groups, persons with disabilities, the security agencies, traditional rulers and religious leaders, including the Independent State-based Peace Architectures”.
“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” report added.
