…Obi tells voters to reject violators at polls
…Peace Committee warns against hate speech, violence, fake news
…INEC: 2027 elections are “competitive job interviews”
…2,510 security incidents recorded in 14 months
By Joseph Erunke, Abuja
Presidential candidates and leaders of political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections have signed a National Peace Accord, pledging to conduct issue-based campaigns and reject violence, hate speech, personal attacks, fake news and ethnic or religious incitement.
The agreement was signed on Tuesday in Abuja under the auspices of the National Peace Committee (NPC, in partnership with The Kukah Centre, ahead of the commencement of the 2027 electioneering campaign on Wednesday.
The accord, described by the organisers as more than a ceremonial document, is anchored in the Constitution, the Electoral Act, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) guidelines, and other relevant laws governing the electoral process.
It is aimed at preventing the intense competition for political power from degenerating into violence, intimidation, misinformation and other activities that could undermine Nigeria’s democracy.
However, the absence of some major presidential candidates, including the All Progressives Congress ,APC, candidate, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the African Democratic Congress, ADC, candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was notable.
Tinubu was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,SGF, Senator George Akume.
Other presidential candidates who attended included the Nigeria Democratic Congress ,NDC candidate, Peter Obi; Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Adewole Adebayo; and African Action Congress ,AAC candidate, Omoyele Sowore.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission ,INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, also attended the ceremony.
Speaking shortly before the signing, Obi urged Nigerians to punish politicians who violate the accord by voting against them at the polls.
Asked what punishment should await a candidate or party that breaches the agreement, the former Anambra State governor said: “Well, the punishment is that Nigerians should not vote for them.”
Obi said politicians seeking public office must demonstrate the character expected of leaders.
“You can’t answer ‘His Excellency’ without being an excellent person. So, the process that will make you answer ‘His Excellency’ should be excellent, and the only way to do it is to conduct yourself properly,” he said.
The NDC candidate also demanded a credible 2027 election in which Nigerians’ votes would count.
“I don’t have any fear [going into next year’s election] except to say that, please, for the sake of the children of Nigeria, can we have an election where people’s votes will count?” he asked.
Reacting to deaths recorded during the recent Osun State governorship election, Obi said no Nigerian should lose his or her life because of an election.
“We should comfort their families, and we should remain prayerful and conduct ourselves in a way that in our democracy, nobody needs to die for an election. It shouldn’t be. It is painful, and I wish it never happened again,” he said.
He also questioned the need for politicians to sign a peace accord, arguing that those seeking public office ought to behave responsibly without being compelled to sign an agreement.
“We don’t even need to sign this. We’re seeking an office where we should be exemplary,” Obi said.
Asked whether he still believed in Nigeria’s electoral process, he replied: “Well, because I want to change the process, I have to go through it. So, I have to believe in it.”
The Project Manager of the National Peace Committee at The Kukah Centre, Asabe Ndaye, said the accord was a public commitment backed by existing laws and not merely a ceremonial document.
“The Peace Accord is a public commitment by political parties and candidates to peaceful political competition, respect for the rule of law, democratic accountability and the will of the people,” Ndaye said.
She disclosed that the committee had, in March 2026, convened electoral stakeholders and presented legal annotations to the accord to ensure that political actors understood the implications and consequences of violating its provisions.
“The accord we’ll be signing today is not just a document, but it is a document that is backed by law,” she stressed.
Ndaye said the agreement requires party chairmen, candidates, campaign spokespersons, officials and supporters to refrain from creating, publishing, disseminating, endorsing or knowingly amplifying fake news and misinformation intended to incite violence or undermine electoral integrity.
She warned that existing laws provide sanctions for offences involving violence, intimidation, inflammatory rhetoric and religious, ethnic or sectional division.
She said the committee had facilitated 31 peace accords since its establishment, describing the initiative as part of its contribution to democratic stability.
Ndaye said the committee’s mandate included moral intervention, alternative dispute resolution, support for free, fair and credible elections and mediation in post-election disputes and crises.
But she warned that the exercise would be meaningless if political actors failed to honour their commitments.
“Today, we are here to establish the boundaries within which political competition must take place,” she said.
“We’re here also today to set up for the 2027 campaigns before political competition escalates into electoral conflict.”
She added: “Our competition will not become war and disagreements will not degenerate to violence. Political mobilisation will not become intimidation. Electoral disputes will not become conflict, and information will not become a weapon against electoral integrity.”
43% of 2023 violations linked to issue-based campaigns
Ndaye disclosed that the Peace Committee’s monitoring of the 2023 electoral cycle revealed significant breaches of the previous peace accord.
She said the biggest violation was the commitment to issue-based campaigns, which accounted for 43 per cent of recorded breaches.
According to her, the provision against insults and violence recorded 13.5 per cent violations, while fake news and disinformation accounted for nine per cent.
She said 58 per cent of violations relating to issue-based campaigns were attributed to party spokespersons, with 22 states affected.
Among the states most affected were Kaduna, Plateau, Kano, Lagos, Rivers and Benue.
“Political language is not just communication. In a tense electoral environment, it can actually become a risk signal,” Ndaye warned.
She said the committee had continued to monitor electoral developments since the 2023 elections, including at least 70 off-cycle elections, by-elections and re-run polls, during which attacks involving candidates, party supporters and campaign teams had been recorded.
2,510 security incidents recorded
Ndaye also disclosed that the Election Security Information ESI, Hub established by the committee recorded 2,510 security incidents between June 2025 and August 2026.
She identified Zamfara, Borno, Kaduna, Niger, Benue and Plateau as among the most affected states, with banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other forms of insecurity posing major threats.
The hub also recorded 381 electoral offences during the period, with the Federal Capital Territory, Osun, Oyo and Lagos recording significant incidents.
The leading electoral threats, she said, included vote-buying, political violence, thuggery, physical attacks, intimidation, misinformation, party conflicts, electoral malpractice and voter suppression.
Ndaye warned that electoral violence usually had a history before manifesting as an actual incident, urging stakeholders to address tensions arising from party primaries, defections, political realignments, litigation and nomination disputes before they escalated.
She identified intra-party disputes, factionalisation, defections, litigation, misinformation, vote inducement, threats, intimidation, thuggery, hate speech and attacks on campaign rallies as major risk factors requiring early intervention.
She urged political parties and candidates to engage in vigorous but respectful debates centred on policies, programmes and issues affecting Nigerians.
Campaign supporters, she said, must mobilise responsibly without violence or intimidation, while party spokespersons must verify information before disseminating it.
“For the party and candidate spokesperson, we expect a lot from you because this is where most of the issues start,” she said.
“We expect respectful messaging. Kindly verify information and avoid inflammatory or inciting statements.”
She equally urged the media and civil society organisations to verify information before publication and base their advocacy on evidence.
Security agencies, she added, must remain neutral, exercise restraint and provide equal protection to all citizens and candidates.
Traditional and religious leaders were also urged to use their influence to promote peace and discourage inflammatory rhetoric throughout the campaign period.
INEC: Elections are not ‘total wars’
Speaking at the ceremony, INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, said the accord was being signed at a critical point in the electoral calendar, with campaigns scheduled to commence on Wednesday, August 19.
He said the presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on January 16, 2027, while the governorship and House of Assembly elections would take place on February 6.
Amupitan said the timing of the accord was deliberate, stressing that political actors needed to establish the ethical boundaries of their campaigns before nationwide political activities commenced.
He expressed concern over the resurgence of hate speech, toxic polarisation, coordinated misinformation and personality-driven political discourse.
According to him, campaigns were increasingly shifting from policy discussions to character assassination, identity-based provocation and inflammatory rhetoric.
He urged candidates to focus on the major challenges confronting Nigerians, including economic growth, insecurity, infrastructure, healthcare, education and social inclusion.
“Electoral contests in a constitutional democracy are not total wars; they are competitive job interviews before the electorate,” Amupitan said.
The INEC chairman urged parties to make the 2027 election a “marketplace of ideas” where candidates would explain not only what they intended to do but how they planned to achieve their objectives.
He warned parties against using social media and digital platforms to spread false information, premature election results and other content that could undermine confidence in the electoral process.
Amupitan disclosed that INEC was preparing to deploy about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units, adding that the commission had spent the past eight months improving its technology, logistics and personnel training.
He, however, cautioned that technological improvements could not substitute for responsible political behaviour.
“It is not the signatures written on this Accord today that preserve democracy; it is the character of the leaders who hold the pen,” he said.
The Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, represented by Deputy Inspector-General of Police Umar Shehu, warned political actors against conduct that could threaten electoral security.
Disu said election security was not created on election day but built throughout the electoral cycle through the conduct of parties, candidates and their supporters.
He called for campaigns centred on policies and competing visions rather than ethnic mobilisation, religious division, hatred, intimidation and violence.
The police chief warned that inflammatory statements could spread rapidly through television and social media and trigger violence in communities.
He also warned against the use of armed groups, criminal elements or illegal firearms to intimidate political opponents or disrupt political activities.
According to him, political parties must take responsibility for the behaviour of their supporters and campaign organisations.
“You cannot publicly preach peace while privately encouraging violence,” he said.
Disu also called for greater inclusion of women, youths, persons with disabilities and other traditionally underrepresented groups in political activities.
Representing President Tinubu, SGF George Akume said the President and the APC were committed to the principles contained in the accord.
Akume commended the National Peace Committee for promoting peaceful elections and said Nigeria had recorded improvements in election management through technology deployed by INEC.
He cited permanent voter cards, biometric voter accreditation and other technological measures as developments that had strengthened the electoral process.
He urged political parties to avoid ethnic and religious sentiments and instead campaign on policies that expand opportunities and improve the lives of Nigerians.
“As the campaign season kicks off, I commit myself and my party, the All Progressives Congress, to the tenets of this accord,” Akume said.
He said the APC rejected violence, hate speech, misinformation, including misinformation generated through artificial intelligence, and incitement on social media.
Adebayo questions relevance of accord
While the accord received broad support, some opposition candidates questioned its effectiveness.
The SDP presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, described the agreement as meaningless without justice, accountability and respect for democratic principles.
He argued that previous peace agreements had been violated without consequences and accused the government of intimidating opposition politicians.
Adebayo said a credible electoral environment required government institutions, security agencies and INEC to perform their constitutional responsibilities independently and transparently.
He also questioned whether the recently concluded Osun governorship election represented an improvement in Nigeria’s electoral process, citing deaths recorded during the poll.
Despite the divergent views, the National Peace Committee maintained that the accord was designed to provide a framework for peaceful political competition as campaigns begin.
The committee said the second phase of the initiative would follow the 2027 elections and focus on the acceptance of electoral outcomes and the broader commitment to democratic stability.
Established in 2014 in response to threats ahead of the 2015 elections, the National Peace Committee comprises eminent elder statesmen who intervene in critical national issues through high-level mediation and alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms.
The organisers said the initiative was ultimately about protecting Nigeria’s democratic future rather than advancing partisan interests.
“Today’s not about party colours. It’s about the Nigerian colour. That is the green and the white of Nigeria,” they declared.
The committee acknowledged the technical support of the European Union and Switzerland, as well as contributions from members of its secretariat and other stakeholders.
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