Political parties and presidential and National Assembly candidates on Tuesday signed the first National Peace Accord on issue-based campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections, pledging to shun violence, hate speech, misinformation, personal attacks and other conduct capable of undermining the electoral process.

The accord was signed in Abuja at a ceremony organised by the National Peace Committee in partnership with The Kukah Centre, barely 24 hours before the statutory commencement of public campaigns and rallies for the elections.

The event brought together the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Joash Amupitan; political party leaders; presidential candidates; National Assembly candidates; the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, and representatives of the diplomatic community, among other stakeholders.

Those who signed the accord included President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume; the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi; the Social Democratic Party candidate, Adewole Adebayo and his African Action Congress counterpart, Omoyele Sowore.

Other participants were the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda; the presidential candidates of the Peoples Redemption Party and Labour Party, Donald Duke, Chibuzor Okereke; the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin; the PRP National Chairman, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed; federal and state lawmakers, party leaders and other candidates.

The event also featured goodwill messages from diplomatic representatives, including the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria, Gautier Mignot, and the Ambassador of Switzerland to Nigeria, Patrick Egloff.

However, some major political actors, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, were absent from the ceremony. Atiku is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, while Makinde is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples’ Movement.

The Chairman of the National Peace Committee, former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), was represented by a former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Agwai (retd.).

The ceremony was held against the backdrop of growing political activities ahead of the 2027 elections, with the economy, insecurity, unemployment, poverty, infrastructure deficits and the credibility of the electoral process expected to dominate the campaigns.

According to INEC’s revised timetable, the presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on January 16, 2027, while the governorship and State House of Assembly elections are scheduled for February 6, 2027.

Speaking through Akume, President Tinubu urged political parties and candidates to place national interest above personal and partisan ambitions, warning that the struggle for political power must not become a do-or-die affair.

He also cautioned political actors against exploiting ethnic and religious sentiments to mobilise voters, insisting that the 2027 campaign should be based on competing ideas, policies and programmes.

“Signing this peace accord is a solemn pledge to the Nigerian people that we, as leaders, will put the nation’s interests above personal or partisan ambitions,” Tinubu said.

The President acknowledged that political campaigns naturally generate disagreements and intense competition, but insisted that such disagreements should not threaten national unity.

“It is natural during campaigns to disagree as opponents and advocate competing governing missions for our country. We may exchange occasional political jabs, but as members of the same household, the same national family, we must never resort to divisive and primordial sentiments of ethnicity or religion as tools for seeking power,” he stated.

Tinubu urged the candidates to concentrate on the issues affecting Nigerians and offer competing solutions to the country’s challenges.

“Let us campaign on superior ideas. Let us debate issues and promote the best policies to expand opportunities for our people,” he admonished his opponents.

The President said the APC remained committed to the provisions of the accord and would reject violence, hate speech, misinformation, incitement and digital manipulation.

“Our party rejects violence, hate speech, the spread of misinformation, including through artificial intelligence, and all forms of incitement, especially via social media.

“We are committed to peaceful, transparent elections that will strengthen political stability, social harmony, economic progress, and our nation’s prosperity. I encourage other political parties and political actors to do the same.’’

Tinubu also commended the National Peace Committee for sustaining its interventions in the electoral process since 2014, noting that the initiative had helped bring political actors together to publicly commit themselves to peaceful elections.

He said Nigeria had also recorded improvements in election management, particularly through the adoption of technology by INEC.

The President cited the Permanent Voter Cards, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and electronic accreditation processes as measures that had strengthened confidence in the electoral system.

He also referred to recent off-cycle governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun States as evidence of improvements in electoral administration and voter participation.

Campaigns not wars

The INEC chairman, Amupitan, described the signing ceremony as more than a symbolic gathering, saying it was an opportunity for political actors to define the ethical boundaries of the 2027 contest before the campaigns officially commenced.

He said the timing of the accord was significant because Wednesday (today) marks the statutory commencement of public campaigns and rallies for the elections.

“Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 19, 2026, marks the statutory commencement of public campaigns and rallies for the 2027 general election.

“Before the first campaign flag is unfurled, before the first rally is staged, and before political rhetoric fills our public space, it is necessary that those who seek to lead this nation first gather to establish the ethical boundaries of their contest,” Amupitan said.

According to him, Nigerians were expecting political parties and candidates to use the campaign period to discuss the challenges confronting the country rather than engage in personal attacks and inflammatory rhetoric.

The INEC chairman said information gathered by the National Peace Committee’s Election Security Information Hub had shown an “alarming resurgence” of hate speech, toxic polarisation, coordinated misinformation and personality-driven political discourse.

He said the trend was particularly disturbing as Nigeria approached what was expected to be one of the most fiercely contested elections since the return to democratic rule in 1999.

Amupitan challenged the candidates to make the economy, national security, infrastructure, healthcare, education and social inclusion central to their campaigns.

He likened elections to a competition for public office rather than warfare.

“Electoral contests in a constitutional democracy are not total wars; they are competitive job interviews before the electorate. Nigerians do not want insults; they want solutions,” he said.

The INEC chairman also warned political parties and their supporters against premature declarations of victory and the circulation of unverified information on social media.

He said the growing use of artificial intelligence and digital platforms had created new challenges for electoral management, particularly through disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference.

Amupitan challenged presidential candidates, party leaders and campaign organisations to ensure that their supporters and online teams complied with the spirit and provisions of the accord.

“Leadership attained at the expense of public peace, institutional integrity, or human life is a hollow victory,” he warned.

The INEC chairman assured political parties that the commission had no preferred candidate and would provide a level playing field for all contestants.

“For the Commission, our moral authority to demand decorum from political actors rests squarely on our own administrative and technological preparedness,” he said.

Amupitan disclosed that INEC was preparing to deploy approximately 1.4 million ad hoc personnel for the 2027 general elections across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide.

He said the commission was drawing lessons from recent off-cycle elections, including the governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states as well as the Federal Capital Territory Area Council election, to improve its preparations for 2027.

The INEC chairman, however, stressed that technology and administrative preparedness alone could not guarantee peaceful elections, insisting that the conduct of political parties, candidates and their supporters remained critical.

“We provide the pitch and the refereeing, but the quality of the game depends on the players,” he said.

He called on the political class to recognise that the credibility of the 2027 elections would depend not only on INEC’s conduct but also on the willingness of the candidates to accept democratic rules and respect the institutions responsible for administering the polls.

Abubakar said the National Peace Committee had facilitated 30 peace accords since 2015, comprising five national-level accords and 25 subnational agreements.

He added that the committee had also established faith-based peace structures in 23 states to complement its national peace-building efforts.

According to him, the issue-based peace accord was conceived in response to the increasing tendency of political campaigns to rely on sentiments, personal attacks and character assassination rather than manifestoes, policies and programmes.