Bindow's major rivals, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Emmanuel Bello, candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), were among those who attended the ceremony.
Governor Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa State was conspicuously absent at the signing of the treaty for commitment to peace in the 2019 governorship election in the state, otherwise known as the 'Peace Accord'.
The peace accord was organised by the Interagency Consultative Committee on Electoral Security (ICCES) and is aimed at ensuring peaceful conduct of the 2019 polls in the state.
The ceremony was jointly coordinated by the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Kassim Gaidam and Abdullahi Yerima, Adamawa State Commissioner of Police.
Ahmadu Umar Fintiri, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was among the candidates who showed up, while Abdul-Aziz Nyako, candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), was absent.
In all, 13 candidates — including two frontline candidates — were absent, namely: Governor Jibrilla Bindow of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Abdulaziz Nyako of ADC.
In his introductory remarks, the resident electoral commissioner explained that the peace accord was intended to assure a violence-free electoral process and urged the governorship candidates to stick to the requirements of the accord.
According to the Commissioner of Police, the peace accord requires the governorship candidates to embrace the spirit of sportsmanship.
"You may do well to avoid the winner-takes-all mindset," CP Yerima added.
He further charged the contestants to "shun hate speech, shun violence, discourage supporters from violent acts, and say no to abuse of youth".
Bindow's major rivals, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri and Emmanuel Bello, candidates of PDP and SDP, respectively, however attended the ceremony.
Commenting on the absence of the governor shortly after signing the peace accord, Fintiri said: "The fear of defeat ahead of 2019 must have made the governor to develop phobia for peace accord. Bindo's defeat is imminent come March 2, 2019".
Meanwhile, Bello of SDP accused Bindow of displaying the "height of irresponsibility by not attending the ceremony".