Tinubu misses signing of peace accord amid reports he is receiving medical attention in London

QUESTION marks have been raised about the health status of former Lagos State governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu after he missed the signing if a peace pact in Abuja having flown to London for medical reasons.

Today, all the major political parties that will participate in next year's Nigerian presidential elections signed a peace accord in Abuja but Asiwaju Tinubu was absent and had to be represented by his running mate Senator Kashim Shettima. Other major contenders in the presidential race including Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, all signed the document.

At the event, which took place at the International Conference Centre (ICC), all the major participants in next year's polls pledged to conduct themselves in a gentlemanly fashion.  It was organised by the National Peace Committee headed by former head of state General Abdulsalami Abubakar and the Catholic archbishop of Sokoto, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah.

Asiwaju Tinubu left Nigeria on Sunday amid talk that he had gone to seek medical attention, although he was also reported to be planning meeting with some unnamed groups in London.  Although he did not sign it in person, Asiwaju Tinubu is still bound by the agreement which commits all the parties to a ensure rancour-free and fair campaign devoid of acrimony.

Come January, the political parties will sign another pact committing them to accepting the outcome of the election results. In August, Asiwaju Tinubu missed a Nigerian Bar Association Conference in Lagos and had to get Senator Shettima to stand in for him, as happened today, raising more questions about his health.