President Bola Tinubu has urged fellow candidates in the coming 2027 general elections not to weaponise ethnicity and religion during campaigns.

Tinubu said this on Tuesday at the signing of a National Peace Accord in Abuja by presidential candidates.

The president, represented at the event by George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said elections should not be treated as a do-or-die affair.

He then urged political actors to put the country’s interest above personal and partisan ambitions.

“It is natural during campaigns to disagree as opponents and advocate competing governing visions for our country. We may exchange occasional political jabs. But as members of the same household, the same national family, we must never resort to divisive or primordial sentiments of ethnicity or religion as tools for seeking power,” he said.

“Let us remember that elections are not a do-or-die affair. We are partners in the project of nation-building. Win or lose, our country, Nigeria, must be the ultimate winner.”

ASA