By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Tuesday unveiled its Governance Principles and Code of Ethics, with the optimism that it will restore the confidence of Nigerians in governance.
Speaking at unveiling of the document titled, “The Orange Book”, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi
described it as a binding covenant between the party and the people of Nigeria.
According to him, “The document describes the code as more than a declaration. It is presented as a radical departure from the culture of self-serving politics, and built instead around ethical leadership, public accountability, and prioritisation of the common good.”
Abdullahi described politics devoid of ethics as an organised criminality, regretting that Nigeria has become a country that does not reward honest behaviour, neither does it punish bad behaviour.
“We think that politics gives people license to tell lies, to behave badly, to do whatever they like,” he said.
Abdullahi explained that leaders of ADC, at the formation of the coalition, agreed to play a different kind of politics, “because politics and politicians in Nigeria have become widely discredited.”
Said he, “When coalition started, we needed a book that would articulate the governance and ethical principle for a political party on the basis of which you hold members accountable.
“No party before us since 1999 has done it. The African Democratic Congress is setting a new standard, and our hope and our expectation is that a member elected on the basis of on the platform of ADC, will say I cannot do this because I am ADC.
“This is a covenant that is binding, and that’s why we started at the highest level by getting our three presidential aspirants not only to sign to this code of ethics, but to also swear at oath for it.”
Abdullahi disagreed with the statement credited to President Bola Tinubu, that all is fair in politics, adding, “ADC is saying no.”
He added that for Nigeria to solve her socio-economic problems, politicians should play a different kind of politics.
The National Publicity Secretary who said Nigeria is like a graveyard of abandoned projects, promised that an ADC government would complete every project initiated by its predecessor.
“If an ADC senator or a member of the House is pursuing a bill or a legislative agenda, and for whatever reason he or she is not does not come back, a member of the ADC taking over has a duty to continue, because it represents the agenda of the political party, not the individual that he was promoting
“Any project that is started by ADC must to be completed by ADC. If we start a project, and if whoever started it leaves office, whoever is taking over from him or her has a duty to complete that project, this is quite significant,” he stated.
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