Former Nigeria Military Ruler Gives Otedola, John Momoh, Martin Agwai, Others Fresh Appointment

Ahead of the 2023 General Election, the General Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd)-led National Peace Committee (NPC) has announced the appointment of five notable individuals as new members of the committee.

Naija News reports that the peace committee was founded in 2014 “in response to emerging threats occasioned by the 2015 general election”.

The NPC monitors compliance with the peace pact signed by candidates of political parties as part of efforts to support free, fair, and credible elections.

The new members are billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola; founder of Channels Television, John Momoh; director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Idayat Hassan; former defence minister, Yayale Ahmed; and former chief of defence staff, Martin Agwai.

Speaking at a meeting of the NPC on Thursday, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Committee (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, charged members of the committee to engage with stakeholders in the political space early enough, in order to minimise incidents of electoral violence.

He 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.”