Guber Polls: Peace Committee Engages Political Stakeholders in Edo, Ondo

• The National Peace Committee (NPC) plans meetings with political stakeholders before the 2024 off-season elections in Edo and Ondo
• Fr. Atta Barkindo stressed the importance of engaging political parties to ensure peaceful elections and resolve internal conflicts

The National Peace Committee (NPC) has announced a series of meetings with political stakeholders in the 2024 off-season elections in Edo and Ondo States.

Fr. Atta Barkindo, head of the NPC secretariat and Executive Director of The Kukah Centre, shared this news on Monday in Abuja during a one-day conference with youths, women, and persons with disabilities.

He emphasized that the conference aims at the 2027 general elections and off-cycle elections, which will provide insights into the 2027 polls.

“We have independent peace architectures in some of these states conducting off-cycle elections. We are talking to critical stakeholders and using back-channel negotiations to remind people of the importance of peace,” Barkindo said.

He highlighted the critical role of political parties in ensuring a peaceful electoral process. “Our main concern is engaging political parties because their mobilization strategies, communications with followers, and use of social media shape voter mindsets and election day outcomes,” he noted.

Barkindo explained that unresolved conflicts within political parties often spill over into elections, affecting both general and off-cycle elections. “We are already engaging parties in Edo and Ondo and preparing for Anambra, Osun, and Ekiti,” he added.

The conference aims to strengthen the involvement of youths, women, and persons with disabilities and develop better collaboration strategies with key stakeholders. It also seeks to gather feedback on the electoral process to make recommendations to the NPC for future interventions.

“We mobilized and set up Independent State-based Peace architectures in 15 states, identifying respected, non-partisan individuals to support peace processes in those states,” Barkindo stated. “We plan to expand this initiative to all 36 states, including the FCT.”

Barkindo recalled that the peace initiative began before the 2015 presidential election amid high tensions between then-incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari.

The NPC’s ongoing efforts aim to ensure a peaceful and fair electoral process across Nigeria, engaging various stakeholders to promote stability and unity.