The National Peace Committee (NPC) has raised an alarm over growing threats to peaceful campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections, disclosing that 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded 109 breaches of the National Peace Accord over a 10-week monitoring period. ​
The findings were detailed in a comprehensive report released in Abuja by the committee’s leadership, including NPC Chairman and former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), alongside the Committee Convener, Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah. ​According to the monitoring report, political violence and thuggery constituted the largest single category of violations with 33 recorded incidents, representing roughly 30.3 percent of all breaches.
Misinformation and disinformation followed closely with 29 cases, accounting for 26.6 percent of the total and underlining the significant role of digital manipulation in escalating political tension. Additionally, the committee logged 19 attacks on political activities and assets, 15 instances of intimidation and threats directed against political actors, and 13 other infractions ranging from restrictions on free assembly to voter inducement and inflammatory rhetoric.
Notably, non-physical violations made up 52 percent of the overall breaches, illustrating that online hostility and atmospheric threats pose as severe a challenge to democratic norms as physical violence. ​The geographic distribution of the violations revealed several key flashpoints across the country. Kaduna State recorded the highest concentration of breaches nationwide with nine incidents, while Edo State, Enugu State, and the FCT registered seven incidents each.
In Enugu, opposition gatherings faced repeated armed disruptions between September and October. Specific instances highlighted in the report included an September 8 incident near Makurdi, Benue State, where the convoy of former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate Peter Obi was obstructed, as well as an October 2 attack in Calabar South, Cross River State, where armed gunmen disrupted Peoples Democratic Party consultations.
Further violence was recorded on October 6 in Igueben, Edo State, where an African Democratic Congress supporter was shot, and in Ibadan, Oyo State, where political clashes between October 14 and 17 resulted in two fatalities, including an All Progressives Congress ward member. ​
Following the documentation of these infractions, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah called on security agencies to intervene rapidly by investigating the recorded breaches, protecting lawful political assemblies, and holding perpetrators accountable to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process ahead of 2027.
