NPC was pressured to halt 2023 presidential election, report discloses

By Kunle Sanni

The National Peace Committee (NPC) has disclosed details of the intense pressure it faced during the 2023 Presidential Election, with demands to halt the collation of results or cancel the election entirely.

The committee, led by former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar, presented its 106-page report, “Nigeria’s Pursuit of Electoral Compliance: National Peace Committee – General Elections Report,” in Abuja on Friday. Prior to the public release, the committee had met with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, and other INEC officials to discuss the commission’s preparations for the upcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states.

Other members of the NPC include Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe (Vice Chairman), Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah (Convener), the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, business moguls Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, Vanguard Newspaper Publisher Sam Amuka Pemu, Ameze Guobadia, Idayat Hassan, Dame Priscilla Kuye, General Martin Luther Agwai, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, Channels TV Chairman John Momoh, Roseline Ukeje, and Fr. Atta Barkindo, who serves as the Head of Secretariat.

Abubakar revealed that the committee received numerous calls citing reasons such as alleged violence and other electoral violations. Some callers insisted that the Peace Accord had not been respected and urged the NPC to demand the cancellation of the election. A particularly significant point of contention was the requirement for the winner to secure 25% of the vote in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which some analysts claimed had not been met.

Part of the NPC’s report reads: “As the election day progressed, criticisms and counter-criticisms surged. The NPC was inundated with calls, requests, and petitions demanding intervention. Some requests sought to have the NPC prevail upon INEC to halt the collation of results, citing gross violations and non-compliance with the electoral act. Others called for the cancellation of the election altogether due to perceived breaches of the Peace Accord.

The report further noted: “The most significant concern was the 25% threshold for the FCT. Some analysts argued that the final election results should not be announced because the president-elect did not meet this requirement as stated in the electoral act, suggesting a runoff should be held instead.

“The Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy described the NPC’s silence in the face of numerous election petitions as deafening, particularly given the potential consequences of the election outcomes. The Centre highlighted that the NPC, led by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, had engaged political leaders before the 2023 elections on the need for peaceful and credible elections. However, there was no formal post-election statement from the NPC on the election’s outcome or the necessary interventions to prevent widespread violence.

“The 25% threshold for the FCT remained a contentious issue, compounded by the absence of a pre-election legal interpretation from INEC. While the NPC’s mandate focuses on promoting peace, preventing violence, and encouraging adherence to the rule of law, it does not extend to intervening in the electoral process, which is the purview of legally empowered agencies.

“The NPC’s role is purely moral, grounded in mediation and moral persuasion to ensure peace. It is also tasked with speaking truth to power when things go wrong. After the presidential elections, the NPC continued its engagement with political parties, youth and women-led groups, persons with disabilities, security agencies, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and state-based peace architectures.”