ADC Chieftain Ologbondiyan Calls for Enforcement of 2027 Peace Accord, Faults ‘All Is Fair in Politics’ Comment by Tinubu

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, has urged the committee overseeing the 2027 Political Peace Accord to move beyond the ceremonial signing of agreements and ensure that political actors are held accountable for their conduct before, during and after the elections.

Ologbondiyan made the call during Channels Television’s programme Sunrise Daily while reacting to concerns over the conduct of political parties and the need to preserve peace ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He said the ADC had no problem with peaceful elections, stressing that the party was not known for violence and had not been associated with electoral violence in recent elections, including the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections.

According to him, the major concern was whether the Peace Accord Committee would go beyond organising ceremonies where political leaders gather to sign an agreement that is neither enforceable nor respected.

He particularly criticised the reported statement attributed to President Bola Tinubu that “all is fair in politics,” arguing that such a position could be interpreted as a willingness to pursue victory at all costs.

Ologbondiyan said the Peace Accord Committee should have publicly reprimanded such statements and made it clear that they were unacceptable ahead of the 2027 elections.

“Those who claim that all is fair in politics ought to have been reprimanded by those in charge of the peace accord,” he said.

He warned that if political actors believe that anything is permissible in the pursuit of electoral victory, including violence at polling units, the purpose of a peace accord would be undermined.

Ologbondiyan therefore called for a mechanism capable of monitoring compliance with the accord throughout the electoral process rather than limiting it to a one-day signing ceremony.

He asked, “What happened thereafter? What happened in the course of the election?” stressing that the real test of the accord would be how political actors behave during campaigns, voting and the announcement of results.

The ADC chieftain also dismissed suggestions that the absence of some presidential candidates from the peace accord ceremony necessarily amounted to a protest, saying parties could be represented by their authorised officials.

On reports of alleged disagreements within the opposition camp and claims that Peter Obi was asking former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to step down, Ologbondiyan said he was not aware of any such arrangement.

He described the claim that Obi was asking Atiku to step down as incorrect, adding that he would not comment extensively on a matter about which he had no direct information.

Ologbondiyan maintained that the focus should remain on creating credible conditions for peaceful, free and fair elections in 2027, rather than merely conducting symbolic ceremonies that political actors could ignore once they leave the venue.