The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Atiku Abubakar and 16 others on Wednesday signed a peace accord in Abuja.

Also at the ceremony were the Labour Party presidential flag bearer, Peter Obi, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential hopeful, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC) and the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) candidate, Kola Abiola, among others.

President Muhammadu Buhari, former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, and members of the National Peace Committee led by its chairman, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, witnessed the event.

The presidential candidates by signing the peace accord had agreed to accept the outcome of the election.

However, if they are not satisfied with any aspect of the process, they should deploy constitutional means through the courts to address their grievances.

Jonathan, who was represented at the gathering by the Bishop of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Matthew Kukah, said the peace accord is needed to deter candidates and their allies from using negative tactics to influence the election.

He said: “This (peace accord) is aimed at mitigating disinformation and misinformation during the election and in the time of the social media era.

“There is no other time than now given the considerable tension in the country as a result of the election. The election is not war. The country needs a stable democracy and the rest of the world looks up to us to get our leadership recruitment process right.”