Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, has reacted to the absence of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the signing of the peace accord by presidential candidates.
The outspoken cleric dismissed claims that the former Vice President was not invited, saying Atiku’s absence was due to errors within the PDP national secretariat.
Bishop Kukah, who is the convener of the National Peace Committee, stated this on Tuesday night when he featured on Channels TV’s Politics Today anchored by Seun Okinbaloye.
Paul Ibe, Atiku’s media aide, had in a statement said his principal was not formally invited to the signing of the peace pact.
However, Bishop Kukah while brandishing on live television, a copy of the formal invitation letter sent to the PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus, which was duly acknowledged by the party, said a problem in communication within the PDP was to blame for the error.
His words: “I have a copy of the letter which was sent to all political party chairmen announcing this event.
“This is a letter we sent which was acknowledged in the office of Chief Uche Secondus, chairman of the PDP.
“So, what happened is really a communication problem and I think we’ll rectify it. It was just an administrative error on the part of their (PDP) secretariat.”
The Bishop went further to add that the office of the peace committee will remain open for anybody, who for any reason missed the signing ceremony, to come and commit to a peaceful 2019 election.
“They can still come and append their signature. The most important thing is the commitment,” he said.
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