His Excellency, General Abdulsalam A. Abubakar (Rtd) GCFR
Chairman - NPC
His Excellency, General Abdulsalam A. Abubakar (Rtd) GCFR
Chairman - NPC
General Abdulsalami Abubakar is a retired Nigerian Army General who was Military Head of State from 9 June 1998 until 29 May 1999. He succeeded Sani Abacha upon Abacha’s death. During his leadership, Nigeria adopted a modified version of the 1979 constitution, which provided for multiparty elections. He transferred power to president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo on 29 May 1999.
He is the Chairman of the National Peace Committee
His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan
Member
John Onaiyekan is a Nigerian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been Archbishop of Abuja since 1994 and was made a Cardinal in 2012. He has served as President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and Bishop of Ilorin.
Dame Priscilla Kuye
Member
Dame Priscilla Kuye
Member
Chief (Mrs.) Priscilla Kuye, is the first female President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA).
She served the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) as National Financial Secretary, 3rd Vice, 2nd Vice and 1st Vice President, before becoming the first and only female President of the Nigerian Bar Association. She was a trustee for the association from 2004 to 2019. She was knighted by Pope John Paul II in 1981. Kuye was also a former Vice President of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce. She was also the President of Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, and the first regional Vice President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers for Africa in Nigeria between 1979 and 1981. She is a life member of the Body of Benchers and was the chairman, Human Rights Committee of the NBA. In 1993, she was elected Vice President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. She established Priscilla O. Kuye and Company, her law firm in 1970. She was offered a seat at the Court of Appeal in 1992 but she rejected the offer.
Mr. Femi Otedola CON
Member
Mr. Femi Otedola CON
Member
Olufemi Otedola CON is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist. He is the former chairman of Forte Oil PLC, and is the current executive chairman of Geregu Power PLC. Otedola is also the founder of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, and the owner of a number of other businesses across shipping, real estate and finance.
Rev. Fr. Atta Barkindo Ph.D
Head, NPC Secretariat
Rev. Fr. Atta Barkindo Ph.D
Head, NPC Secretariat
Fr. Atta Barkindo is the Executive Director of The Kukah Centre & Head of Secretariat, National Peace Committee. He is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Yola.
In August 2007, Fr. Atta proceeded to the Dar Comboni Institute for Arabic and Islamic studies, Zamalek, Egypt where he obtained his BA in Arabic and Islamic studies. In 2009, he was accepted at the Pontifical University for Arabic and Islamic studies, PISAI, Rome, Italy where he graduated with a Licentiate Degree in Political Islam and Inter-Religious Dialogue in 2011. Fr. Atta enrolled for his MSc in African Politics in 2012 at the School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS, University of London and in 2016, he completed his PhD in the same University. His PhD research project, titled ‘‘History, Memory and Resistance in Northern Nigeria: The Transformation of Boko Haram,’’ was awarded the Horowitz Foundation grant for Social Policy. Fr. Atta specialised in Deradicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Violent Extremists, at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Singapore. In November 2014, Fr. Atta became a part of the European Union Technical Assistance Team that worked with the Office of the National Security Adviser to establish the DDRR programme in Nigeria. Part of his job was to conduct classification of Boko Haram to highlight the level of ideological commitment of each member and to determine the nature of intervention to be provided. He is also a consultant for Conciliation Resources, conducting research to highlight community perspectives, concerns and initiatives on issues of reconciliation and reintegration in the Northeast. As recently as August 2020, Fr. Atta led a team of researchers from the United Nations Development Programme Borderlands Centre, Nairobi, Kenya to provide up to date actor mapping of the activities of Boko Haram factions around the Lake Chad Basin. This included threat assessment, and mapping of recent violent incidents (Jan – August 2020), taking into account seasonal dynamics relating to conflict. Central to this assignment was assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conflict dynamics, including cross-border responses. In October 2020, Fr. Atta was selected by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to develop a roadmap on transitional justice in Nigeria. Furthermore, understanding the link between terrorism and organised crime remains on the fringe in terms of research and programme implementation. He is also Research Fellow for Open Doors International, Netherlands, the World Watch Monitor, UK and Global Initiative on Civil Society and Conflict, University of South Florida. Fr. Atta is also a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Africa Research Institute, London. Fr. Atta has authored books, technical reports and policy documents, one of which is Boko Haram’s Exploitation of History and Memory. In January 2018, he was appointed the Executive Director of The Kukah Centre, and in August of the same year, he was made the Head of Secretariat, National Peace Committee. He directly works with General Abdulsalami A. Abubakar and Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, Chairman and Convener of the Peace Committee respectively, to facilitate peaceful elections and transition in Nigeria.
His Excellency, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (Rtd)
Vice Chairman -NPC
His Excellency, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (Rtd)
Vice Chairman -NPC
Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe is a retired Commodore in the Nigerian Navy who served as the de facto Vice President of Nigeria during the Ibrahim Babangida military government from 1985 to 1986.
Prince Sam Amuka
Member
Prince Sam Amuka
Member
Sam Amuka Pemu is a Nigerian journalist, columnist and founder of the Vanguard, Nigeria’s leading newspaper. He co-founded The Punch, the most widely read newspaper in Nigeria. Sam Amuka Pemu was born in Sapele, a city in Delta State, southern Nigeria into the family of the late Pa Amuka-Pemu and Madam Teshoma Amuka-Pemu, who died in May 2014.
Professor Ibrahim Gambari CFR
Member
Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR is a Nigerian scholar and diplomat. He was Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985. Gambari has been appointed by the Secretary-General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission as Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur effective from 1 January 2010. He was the Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Issues for the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he served as the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations(USG) for the Department of Political Affairs (DPA). He was appointed on June 10, 2005 and assumed the post on July 1 of that year.
Ms. Idayat Hassan
Member
Ms. Idayat Hassan
Member
Idayat Hassan is director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), an Abuja-based policy advocacy and research organization focusing on deepening democracy and development in West Africa. Idayat is a lawyer and has held fellowships in universities across Europe and the United States. Her interests span democracy, peace and security, transitional justice, and information and communications technology for development in West Africa. As the director of CDD, she oversaw its rise from being unranked in 2013 to ranked 11th out of 94 think tanks in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Go To Think Tank Index. Idayat has strengthened CDD's position as a civic tech leader with a portfolio of projects—including analyses of the nexus between social media platforms, election processes, and electoral outcomes, using an app to identify electoral fraud and analyzing the use of personal data in political campaigning in Nigeria.
Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah
NPC Convener
Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah
NPC Convener
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, is one of Nigeria’s foremost public intellectuals, Bishop Kukah has delivered numerous public lectures across Nigeria and world wide, written several books and hundreds of articles on various aspects of Governance, Faith, Human Rights and Public policy in Nigeria. His contributions have added moral input, shaped public policy and service. He served as Secretary General of the Bishops’ Conference and in several federal government panels. He single handedly negotiated an end to the long drawn out conflict between Shell Petroleum Development Corporation and the people of Ogoniland.
Bishop Kukah’s humble background, his wide pastoral experience and networks across the country, have motivated his work in promoting stronger Nigeria national unity through Interfaith Dialogue and promotion of Economic and Social justice for all citizens. As a result of his wide range of experience and exposure, he has often been referred to as a rabble rouser for peace and nation building in Nigeria.
He is the Convener of the National Peace Committee and Founder of the Kukah Centre.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote GCON
Member
Alhaji Aliko Dangote GCON
Member
Aliko Dangote GCON is a Nigerian business magnate, investor, and owner of the Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities in Nigeria and other African countries.
Dangote is ranked by Forbes magazine as the richest man in Africa.
Hon. Justice Roseline Ukeje (Rtd) OFR
Member
Roseline Nonyem Ukeje is a Nigerian jurist who served as the first female Chief Judge of the High Court of Nigeria.
She was appointed a judge of the High Court in 1986 and served as Chief Judge from 2001 until 2008.
Mr. John Momoh OON
Member
Mr. John Momoh OON
Member
John Momoh is a broadcast journalist and the Chairman and CEO of Channels TV, an independent and multiple award-winning 24-hour news and media television channel based in Lagos. He is widely recognized in as a transformative industry pioneer with the 37-year-long career in news television broadcasting.
He delivered the maiden edition of Distinguished Lecture Series of the University of Lagos Mass Communication Alumni Association entitled "The Mass Media: Setting the Nigerian Agenda." He was appointed as the acting chairman of UNILAG Governing Council by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari on 21 August 2020.
His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa'ad III CFR - The Sultan of Sokoto
Member
Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III is the 20th Sultan of Sokoto, the titular ruler of Sokoto in northern Nigeria, Head of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (Society for the Support of Islam – JNI), and President-General of the Nigerian National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). As Sultan of Sokoto, he is considered the spiritual leader of Nigeria’s seventy-million Muslims, roughly fifty percent of the nation’s population. Sa’adu Abubakar succeeded his brother, Muhammadu Maccido.
Professor Ameze Guobadia
Member
Professor Ameze Guobadia
Member
Professor Ameze Guobadia holds the Bachelor of Laws Degree(LL.B) from the University of Lagos and the Masters of Law Degree(LL.M) from the University of London. She began her career as an academic at the University of Benin in 1981 as a Lecturer 11 and rose to the position of Associate Professor.
She was appointed a full Professor by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in 1997 and was as the Institute’s Director of Studies from 1997 to 2003. She served as Director-General of the Institute from 2003 to 2009 after which she has remained a research Professor in the Institute.
Professor Guobadia has been a consultant to both the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In March 2012, she was a member of the African Union’s Peer Review Panel to the Republic of Tanzania. Between 2005 and 2011, she was the chair of the ECOWAS group of Experts on the harmonisation of the Business Laws of the region. From 2009 to 2011, she was a Council member of the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association. In March 2011, she was appointed Chair of the Presidential Visitation Panel to the University of Abuja.
Professor Guobadia has published widely within and outside Nigeria. She is a member of several learned societies including the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law; the International Association of Constitutional Law and the African Network on Constitutional Law.
General Martin Luther Agwai (Rtd) CFR
Member
Martin Luther Agwai CFR FSS MSS DSS fwc is a retired Nigerian Army general who served as Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of Army Staff. He is the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Calabar.
He was commissioned into the Nigerian Armed Forces in 1972 and has held several positions including Chief of Training and Operations of the Nigerian Armed Forces and Director of Military Training at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna. He was the Nigerian Military Adviser at Harare, covering the whole of Southern Africa between 1993 - 1996. He was a Directing Staff and Chief Instructor at the Command and Staff College Jaji - Kaduna, Nigeria. Before becoming the Chief of Army Staff he was the Deputy Military Adviser at United Nations Headquarters, New York. He was the Chief of Defence Staff of the Nigerian Armed Forces since 1 June 2006. Before that, he held several senior positions in the Nigerian Army, including being Chief of Army Staff. He served as the commander of the combined United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. General Agwai led one of the biggest peacekeeping operations in the world with approximately 20,000 troops and 6,000 police under his command.
Mahmud Yayale Ahmed CFR
Member
Mahmud Yayale Ahmed CFR
Member
Mahmud Yayale Ahmed (Ajiyan Katagum in Bauchi state), CFR is a distinguished Abusite and respected Nigerian elder statesman and politician from Azare, Bauchi State who was Head of the service of the Federation, Secretary to the government of the Federation as well as Defence Minister of Nigeria.
He has an honorary Doctorate Degree in Law awarded by the University of Abuja and an honorary Doctorate Degree of Letters by Bayero University.