Electoral Peace Accord: A Signature That Has Betrayed Public Trust

By Eben Enasco

Every other electoral year in Nigeria, the Police Force, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Political interest groups, and Civil Society Collaborators are assembled to sign a peace accord.

The aims of the electoral peace agreement signed by political parties and candidates is touted as a commitment to peaceful elections.

However, the reality on the ground tells a different story.

While they are at the gathering penning the peace accord, their proteges are somewhere arranging how to distort voting process that will later create tension and chaos.

Despite the accord, incidents of violence, vote-buying, and other forms of electoral malpractice have been reported.

It has become a recurring decimal to conduct such high-profile signatures laced with hollow intentions.

The question on everyone’s lips is: what went wrong? Was the accord merely a public relations exercise, or did the signatories genuinely intend to uphold its provisions?

Why will the Inspector General of Police, deploy over Five thousand Operatives to a state during election conduct, if the peace accord signed by the actors hold any water?

The answer lies in the lack of political will to implement the accord’s provisions.

The signatories to the accord have failed to demonstrate a genuine commitment to peaceful elections despite billions of naira budgeted to assemble stakeholders for the accord.

If the Nigeria government can deploy over five thousand personnel to a one day election,  trust me, they can deploy these same men with high motivation to areas where crisis is rampant across the country, and there would be likely positive outcomes.

Instead, they have used the accord as a tool to gain public trust and legitimacy, while secretly plotting to subvert the electoral process.

Those who organized the peace accord gatherings are the ones that will give security protection to aid political groups when they are manipulating results in their hide outs.

From the onset of events, they were never deployed to protect the electorates and the votes cast, but to aid a smooth transition of electoral malpractices.

The public is rightly outraged. They were duped into believing that the accord would ensure a peaceful and credible election.

Instead, the election has been marred by irregularities and malpractice.

The electoral peace accord has become a signature that has betrayed public trust.

It has failed to achieve its intended purpose and has instead provided a false sense of security.

Chiefly, INEC and the Security Agents have been touted culpable in making these signatures porous where they have been accused of fraudulent collaborations with political groups to illegally win elections.

Nigerians deserve better. They deserve an election that is free, fair, and credible. These stakeholders must be accountable for their actions.

To restore public trust, the electoral authorities must take concrete steps to enforce the accord’s provisions and ensure that those who breach it are held accountable.

Anything less would be a betrayal of the public’s trust.