The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has signed the national peace accord ahead of the 2019 elections.
Atiku signed the accord yesterday when he visited the national peace committee alongside PDP officials.
He was not present at the meeting where the accord was formally signed on Tuesday in Abuja.
Atiku’s spokesman, Paul Ibe, had quoted the presidential candidate as saying he was not invited to the meeting where the accord was signed.
The PDP had, however, blamed Atiku’s absence at the programme on “communication lapse”.
Atiku’s running mate, Peter Obi and PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, were among those who accompanied the former vice-president.
A similar accord signed in the build-up of the 2015 elections contributed to the relatively peaceful conduct of the poll.
Among the commitments contained in the peace deal are:
– To run issue-based campaigns at national, state and local government levels. In, this, we pledge to refrain from campaigns that will involve religious incitements, ethnic or tribal profiling, both by ourselves and by all agents in our names.
– To refrain from making or causing to make in our names and that of our party, any public statements, pronouncements, declarations or speeches that have the capacity to incite any form of violence, before, during and after the elections.
– To support all institutions of government including INEC and the security agencies to act and be seen to act with impartially.
– To forcefully and publicly speak out against provocative utterances and oppose all acts of electoral violence.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked Nigerians to be wary of the PDP and its presidential candidate, in the weeks leading up to the 2019 elections.
In a statement signed by APC National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, the party accused Atiku of not wanting to sign the national peace accord ahead of the 2019 elections.
APC said the excuse given for Atiku’s absence on Tuesday is “hogwash” as the PDP and its candidate were invited at the same time as other political parties and their candidates.
“It is obvious that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alh. Atiku Abubakar tried to avoid signing the national peace accord ahead of the country’s 2019 general election,” the statement read.
“To all discerning Nigerians, the PDP and Atiku’s dubious claim of a “communication lapse” as reason for their no-show at Tuesday’s formal signing ceremony is hogwash, as the peace committee duly and formally invited the PDP and Atiku like other candidates and political parties contesting the 2019 Elections.
“Atiku’s eventual decision to sign the peace deal is clearly a face-saving move following widespread condemnation that greeted his initial refusal to agree to the peace deal. We, however, must not lose sight of the dangerous and ominous signs the PDP and Atiku have inadvertently shown Nigerians in the lead up to the elections.”
The APC accused the PDP and Atiku of planning to foment unrest to mar the peaceful elections sought from the national accord.
“Again, this brings to the fore, PDP’s open declaration in August this year that the Party will deploy all means, schemes, shenanigans in all ramification and magnitude” to manipulate the 2019 election,” the statement read.
“The APC reiterates that security and other relevant agencies must be on high alert to check this dangerous threat posed by the PDP’s planned actions for the general elections.
“In 2019 and beyond, the votes of the electorate must count and the will of the electorate must prevail. We must stand against and resist plans by retrogressive elements who are now nested in the PDP and their agents to disrupt elections through violence and other undemocratic practices.”
