In preparation for the 2023 elections, the National Peace Committee (NPC) has announced five notable individuals as new members of the committee.
Gatekeepers News reports that the NPC Chaired by the former head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, was founded in 2014 “in response to emerging threats occasioned by the 2015 general election”.
Since its inception, the NPC monitors compliance with peace pact signed by candidates of political parties as part of efforts to support free, fair, and credible elections.
The new members announced on Thursday are billionaire businessman Femi Otedola; founder of Channels Television, John Momoh; Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Idayat Hassan, Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD); former Defence Minister, Yayale Ahmed; and former Chief of Defence Staff, Martin Agwai.
At a meeting of the NPC on Thursday, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, urged the committee to engage with stakeholders in the political space early enough, in order to minimise incidents of electoral violence.
Yakubu praised the committee for its efforts in contributing to peaceful elections, saying “nations are lucky when they have moral voices”.
The INEC Chairman said, “That is why I think it is a big plus for us as a nation to have a national peace committee and the calibre of people involved in the national peace committee.
“One of the things that the national peace committee can help us do in terms of mitigating security challenges is early engagement with some of the actors.
“Not just signing the peace accord on the eve of elections, but imagine that some of those who perpetrate violence on election day are not necessarily candidates in the election, but are people engaged by beneficiaries of the election.
“So, if we can engage with the actors early enough, I hope that we will be able to turn a new leaf in that respect.”
