Sowore stated this in his speech during a one-day roundtable and closed-door meeting with the leadership of the 18 registered political parties and their presidential candidates on Friday.
The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has again faulted the idea of signing peace pacts ahead of the 2023 presidential election, querying whether Nigeria and the candidates are at war.
Sowore stated this in his speech during a one-day roundtable and closed-door meeting with the leadership of the 18 registered political parties and their presidential candidates on Friday.
He also accused some Nigerian governors of instigating violence during electioneering periods.
WATCH: “One Day The Tables Will Turn:” Signing Peace Agreement Shows Elections Have Become War In Nigeria, There Can’t Be Peace Without Justice — @YeleSowore pic.twitter.com/0Hvir6AIZo
— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) January 21, 2023
“That we are signing a peace accord in Nigeria shows that election has become war. This is the only country in the world where you sign a peace agreement during an election season as if we are at war. But that’s what our elders did to Nigeria, but I think next time we should sign the agreement with our elders who are instigating violence in this country,” the activist said.
“Because peace is not breached by poor men; poor people suffer the consequences of violence. When you look at election, the people that suffer most are those poor women and children. And when there is outbreak of violence in Nigeria, the rich men who are well connected get police protection and they are able to get on a jet and leave Nigeria at the slightest provocation.
“Let me also say some of the people that instigate violence during election are not in this hall, they are the representatives of some of the men and women in this hall. They are state governors in particular, you need to get them to sign peace accord, some of them are the most violent people here, they demonstrated it in Kogi state where a woman was burnt alive. In Kano, someone while campaigning said if they don’t win election, they will kill everybody.
“In Borno State, it’s same thing, you go to Lagos being ruled by the APC, you can’t paste a poster if it’s not Bola Ahmed Asiwaju’s poster in Lagos. I just came back from Lagos, they have a team that tears anybody’s poster that’s not their candidate’s poster.
“How then can there be peace in a country that there is no justice? How do people win election when we have terrible people controlling the resources? I also want to say, the rest of us as you have treated us because we don’t have resources and we don’t have powerful connections.
“We don’t have access to state resources, most of the other candidates use and abuse state resources. They have governors who will just dip their hands in their states’ treasury and use them to fund their candidates’ activities without anybody challenging them.”
The activist also accused security agencies and some media personnel of being biased.