Peace Accord not constitutional requirement – Bishop Kukah
Peace Accord not constitutional requirement – Bishop Kukah
…says PDP has not broken any law by not signing
A member of the National Peace Committee, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah has said that signing of Peace Accord is not a constitutional requirement for political parties and candidates in an election.
He said the it is just a conventional arrangement put in place to commit political actors to peaceful conduct during election process.
He spoke in Benin on Sunday against the backdrop of the refusal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and it’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo to sign the Peace Accord organized by the Committee under the chairmanship of former military president, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar (rtd) ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State.
Bishop Kukah, therefore said the PDP and it’s candidate should not be castigated as there are precedents.
He said “he National Peace Committee, what we do is not in the Electoral Act, it is not a law. It is moral. You can’t compel people to love their neighbour.
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“If you go back to the 2015 election, Atiku Abubakar the presidential candidate for the PDP, was not there to sign the Peace Accord. And the opposition went to town, which is what it ought to be, and the next day, Atiku turned up to sign.
“What is also very interesting is that the current president did not sign when he was a presidential candidate. it wasn’t our fault that the political opposition didn’t take advantage of it.
“It is a pity but we are not going to take anybody to court for not signing it. The only thing it does to you as a candidate is that it sends a wrong signal which can be exploited by the opposition”.
