The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, His Lordship Matthew Kukah, on Sunday, misled Nigerians that President Bola Tinubu didn’t sign the 2023 peace accord before the presidential election.
Kukah, one of the conveners of the National Peace Committee headed by former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, made this known on Sunday in Benin City during the Edo Election Security Townhall.
According to the clergyman, the committee can’t force any presidential candidate to sign the peace pact, which has become an electoral ritual in the last decade.
He said, “The National Peace Committee, what we do is not in the Electoral Act, it’s not law; it’s moral. You can’t compel people to fall in love or love their neighbour
Presidency Debunks Claim
However on Tuesday, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu, Mr Bayo Onanuga said the claim by the clergyman is not correct.
In a post on X, Mr Onanuga noted the first Accord, committing the candidates to a free and credible election in the country, was signed on September 29, 2022. Vice President Kashim Shettima represented Tinubu.
While, the second agreement, signed on February 23, 2023, was for the candidates to accept the election outcome.
Independent Verification
FACTWATCH Independently verified if this claim by Bishop Kukah was correct, but we discovered that this claim is FALSE.
When we typed this keyword, “OBI, TINUBU, KWANKWASO SIGN PEACE ACCORD“, into Google search, results showed that President Bola Tinubu was among the Presidential Hopefuls who signed the peace accord on February 23, 2023.
FACTWATCH also found news publications by credible news organizations in Nigeria that confirmed that the current Nigerian leader signed the peace accord in 2023.
See news reports Here and Here.
