Why Atiku stayed away from Peace Accord signing — ADC
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has provided an explanation for the absence of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, at the signing of the National Peace Accord. The party stated that the decision was a protest against what it sees as inadequate measures addressing electoral violence.
Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, made this statement during an interview on Channels Television’s “Sunrise Daily” on Friday. He emphasized that the ADC chose to skip the ceremony because previous peace agreements signed during past elections did not yield meaningful action against political violence.
Abdullahi criticized the National Peace Committee, which oversees the accord, for failing to take more decisive actions rather than merely facilitating ceremonial signings. He pointed out that despite signing similar agreements, incidents of violence, harassment, and killings persist, as exemplified by the recent events in Osun State.
“We’ve been signing this year in and year out; every election cycle, we sign in support of this commitment. Things still happen; people still get killed and harassed, but we don’t hear the Peace Committee say anything,” Abdullahi stated.
The ADC spokesperson specifically highlighted comments made by Senator Francis Fadahunsi, which he believed could incite violence, noting that the committee did not respond to such remarks. “When Senator Fadahunsi said that they should go out and kill people, we didn’t hear the Peace Committee say anything. So, what is the point? It’s our way of saying no,” he added.
Abdullahi indicated that the party’s boycott was meant to encourage the committee to enhance the effectiveness of the peace process and ensure accountability for inflammatory statements and actions by political figures.
“If we want to be part of this, if you want to take us seriously, then you need to up your game,” he stated. He further criticized the failure to challenge inflammatory political comments, regardless of the source.
He referenced a remark attributed to President Bola Tinubu during the Osun election period, suggesting that the Peace Committee should have admonished the President if his statement was deemed inappropriate. “When the President said all is fair in politics, he set the narrative for the violence that followed in the Osun election. We didn’t hear the Peace Committee say, ‘No, Mr. President, that is not a good thing to say,’” Abdullahi said.
While he expressed alignment with the goal of promoting peaceful elections, Abdullahi insisted that the process must include concrete measures to enforce the commitments of political actors. “We are saying you need to do more. It’s not just to gather us for the ceremony of signing. If we commit to something, you have to be able to ask people to abide by it,” he concluded.
