The Head of the National Peace Committee Secretariat, Father Attah Barkindo has said that Violating the Peace Accord is violating the law, as it is linked to the Constitution and Electoral Act.
He said this in an exclusive with ARISE NEWS on Monday, where he examined the Electoral Act, 2026, and discussed key issues that are likely to affect the upcoming general elections.
“First of all, it is not correct to say that the Peace Accord is not a legitimate document. I think every provision of the Peace Accord itself, what we have done is to annotate it. That means to link it to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act of 2026.
“So, literally, every clause in the Peace Accord is linked to the Constitution and the Electoral Act, to an extent that any politician, any political party, any candidate, or any member of any political party that violates our Accord, you are automatically violating the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act”, he stated.
Speaking on behalf of the National Peace Committee, Fr Barkindo further highlighted key concerns and potential challenges surrounding the 2026 Electoral Act.
“It’s true that there are issues that have come up with the 2026 Electoral Act. Just one of them, for example, that we are very concerned about is the funding of INEC itself. In the previous Act, you required monies to be provided for INEC at least one year before the elections. But if you look now in the new Electoral Act 2026, it is just six months.
“And then we keep complaining that INEC has logistical issues, procurement issues, and the purchase of sensitive and non-sensitive materials—yet you are providing the money only six months to the elections. Besides, INEC has submitted its budget, and I suspect that budget is still being debated when we have just a few months to the election. I think that is really a problem”, he explained.
Adding, he said: “The other problem is the elimination of indirect primaries by the political parties. We think that is really a problem of concern because, right now, you have either direct primaries or consensus. Consensus can be consolidated if political parties want to avoid the problem, because at the moment in this country, political parties are the only conveyor belt to power. So, whoever they give us as a candidate, these are the people we are going to vote into office.”
He argued that defecting politicians should lose both party membership and their seat.
“We expected the law to also include that anyone who defects loses their seat, and then let the law be declared so that the seat is vacant, and within a few days or months, let a new election be held. So, I think these are some of the challenges within the Act that we are really calling on the politicians to put their acts together on”, he said.
Father Barkindo also noted that the lack of trust in Nigeria’s electoral process is tied to broader systemic issues, not just the conduct of elections.
“And the issue of trust is really very important because, for me, there’s trust at two levels. One, trust because we are living in the context of a massive culture of impunity where there’s absolutely no accountability, so it’s difficult for people to trust that system.
“The second thing is that we are over-concentrated on elections to the point that we have forgotten governance. So, the moment election results are announced, people are already planning for the next elections, and so there’s no governance. And if there’s no governance, then you are not responding to the social needs of people. If you are not, people are going to find it really difficult to trust the entire process”, he explained.
Fr. Barkindo said Nigeria’s elections suffer from a trust deficit, pointing to the FCT Area Council polls, where turnout was as low as 7%.
“There are two elements. The first is the culture of impunity. I mean here that if you have been appointed to manage the election process, you must have the courage to comply with the law. If people discover that this group of people don’t even have the courage to comply with the law, they are not going to trust the process.
“And then the second element, of course, is the politicians we elect. Through every election, things seem to get worse, and I think this is why people are saying, ‘What’s the point of coming?’ You can see that during the FCT Area Council elections, the polling units barely saw 7% turnout”, he cautioned.
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