A Civil Society Organisation, Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy, has expressed dissatisfaction over the silence of the National Peace Committee on the outcome of the 2023 general elections.
Ifeanyi Okechukwu, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, noted that the NPC, which committed presidential candidates of political parties to a peace deal, should also take a position on the outcome of the elections.
The Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy declared that it is “disturbing that despite the avalanche of election petitions and likely far-reaching outcomes that could follow the decisions, the National Peace Committee has been quiet.”
It maintained that the silence of the NPC on alleged irregularities which have instigated petitions by aggrieved candidates and political parties leaves much to be desired.
The statement reads in part: “It is public knowledge that the National Peace Committee led by His Excellency General Abdulsalami Abubakar had, prior to the 2023 Election, engaged political leaders on the need for a peaceful and credible election.
This led to the signing of a second national peace accord, a promise to ensure peaceful polls, and a pledge to accept the outcome of the elections. The still pictures and video of the event adorn several platforms on the internet.
“Regrettably, what is missing is a post-election formal statement of the National Peace Committee on the outcome of the election. In actual fact, only the Chairman had made personal statements that were ascribed to the National Peace Committee.
The first such statement by the Chairman was after he voted, and the second statement was after the declaration of the result. It is, thus, surprising that there is yet to be any informed formal statement of the group on the election.
It is a historic fact that elections hardly end with the declaration by the electoral body after voting. This is because, almost always, the last and final announcement is from the judiciary.
“Expectedly, the 2023 election has not been different. Presently, all major political parties are contesting the outcome of the elections. Without a doubt, the top of the engagements is the Presidential Election Petitions. Next in the echelon are several governorship petitions that are dotted across Nigeria.
“It is, however, disturbing that despite the avalanche of election petitions and likely far-reaching outcomes that could follow the decisions, the National Peace Committee has been quiet.
“It is our considered view that the National Peace Committee has failed in a very crucial area concerning the elections. The failure to issue a statement on the role of the judiciary and what Nigeria expects from the judiciary is an inglorious statement on the process of election in Nigeria.
“Without a doubt, elections have three clear steps in Nigeria, and they are primary elections, general elections, and litigation on the elections. Of the three, the last is the most decisive.
“Accordingly, we call on the National Peace Committee to quickly address this gap in its engagements. It must be stressed that every Nigerian is looking up to the judiciary.
What it means is that the National Peace Committee must be alert to its responsibilities. In other words, we are calling on the group to effectively focus its bright lights on the Judiciary because its actions or inactions can undermine the atmosphere of peace and stability that has been engendered by political actors keeping to the terms of the peace accord they signed before the elections.”
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then