The National Peace Committee (NPC) has disclosed that during the 2023 Presidential Election, it faced intense pressure to intervene and either halt the collation of results or cancel the election altogether.
According to Vanguard, This revelation was made on Friday in Abuja as the NPC, led by former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, presented its 106-page report titled “Nigeria’s Pursuit of Electoral Compliance: National Peace Committee 2023 General Elections Report.”
The report highlights the intense behind-the-scenes maneuvers by various partisans and unnamed elements who urged the committee to act.
The committee’s leaders, including General Abdulsalami, Convener Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, and the Head of the NPC Secretariat, Fr. Atta Barkindo, were inundated with calls, petitions, and requests to pressure the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stop collating election results due to alleged gross violations and non-compliance with the electoral act.
“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 the cancellation of the election entirely,” the NPC report disclosed.
One of the most contentious issues was the 25% threshold for Abuja as the Federal Capital Territory, with some analysts arguing that the final election result should not be announced since the presumptive president-elect did not meet this requirement.
However, the report clarifies that the NPC’s role is purely moral and does not extend to interfering in the constitutional duties of INEC or arresting violators.
“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,” the report emphasised.
The NPC has continued its engagement with various stakeholders, including political parties, youth and women-led groups, security agencies, traditional rulers, and religious leaders, to promote peace and encourage adherence to the rule of law.
Despite its limited mandate, the committee’s efforts remain focused on maintaining peace and preventing widespread violence during the electoral process.
