Edo Peace Accord: PDP is following Tinubu’s example – Kukah

Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic bishop of Sokoto Diocese, said opposition parties in Edo State could take advantage of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) refusal to sign a peace accord ahead of Saturday’s election.

Mr Kukah, the convener of the National Peace Committee, and Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former Nigerian leader, were in Edo State last week to commit political parties and their candidates taking part in Saturday’s governorship election to signing a peace pact, committing them to a violence-free election.

Mr Abubakar is the chairperson of the National Peace Committee.

While other political parties and their candidates committed themselves to the pact, the ruling PDP in the state declined to sign the peace accord, citing police bias.

Speaking on Sunday at an Election Security Townhall organised by Channels Television in Benin City, the Edo State capital, the Sokoto Catholic Bishop said the PDP’s action sends a wrong signal to Nigerians.

He said the committee cannot force any candidates to sign a pact, which has become a national ritual in the last decade.

“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 neighbours.”

He recalled what happened when Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and then PDP presidential candidate in 2019, refused to attend the peace accord signing ceremony.

“And of course, the opposition went to town, which is what it ought to be, and the next day, he (Atiku) turned up to sign,” Bishop Kukah said, suggesting Atiku was forced to commit to the pact after opposition parties took advantage of his action.

Speaking further, Mr Kukah said the current President, Bola Tinubu, did not sign the peace accord in 2023, and opposition parties failed to take advantage of Mr Tinubu’s action.

“What is also very interesting is that 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.

“It’s a pity, but we are not going to take anybody to court for not signing the peace accord. The only thing it does to you as a candidate is that it sends a wrong signal which can be very easily exploited by the opposition,” Mr Kukah said, suggesting that the PDP in Edo was following Mr Tinubu’s example.

Why Edo PDP decline to sign peace accord

The PDP in Edo State, led by Governor Godwin Obaseki, had said the party would not sign the peace accord, citing the police’s bias against it.

According to Mr Obaseki, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, came into the state and obtained a court warrant to arrest 60 PDP members. This situation, he said, had forced the party’s leaders into hiding, apparently to evade arrest.

Governor Obaseki had alleged that already 10 PDP members had been arrested and taken to Abuja on the instructions of the police chief, adding that they were not charged to court.

As a condition, Mr Obaseki said the party would go to Abuja and sign the pact if the arrested PDP members were either released or brought back to Edo State and charged to court in the state where the police claimed they committed the offence.

Speaking further, Mr Obaseki predicted a “very violent” election, saying they have no confidence in the police to protect them.

Mr Egbetokun had at the peace accord signing ceremony promised that the police would remain impartial and professional during the election.