The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has vowed to introduce a new political culture anchored on ethics, accountability and responsible governance, declaring that politics without morality amounts to organised criminality.
The party made the declaration on Tuesday in Abuja during a media engagement on its “Orange Book: Governance Principles and Code of Ethics”, which it said was developed to provide a binding framework for its elected and appointed officials.
Giving insights on the details of he document, The ADC National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said the initiative was part of the party’s effort to demonstrate how it intends to govern differently from existing political parties and restore public confidence in Nigeria’s political system.
He said the coalition that birthed the ADC was founded on the realisation that Nigeria’s challenges were largely connected to the nature of politics being practised in the country.
According to him, “If we are to solve the problem that Nigeria is facing, we have to play a different kind of politics.”
He said the party had therefore decided to develop governance principles and a code of ethics that would guide its members and provide Nigerians with the basis for holding elected officials accountable.
On the Code of Ethics, the spokesman said the document was particularly important because Nigerians had increasingly come to believe that morality and politics could not coexist.
“Politics gives people licence to tell lies, to behave badly, to do whatever they like. ADC is saying no,” he declared.
He described politics without ethics as “organised criminality and organised crime,” arguing that political leadership must be governed by the highest standards of morality, transparency and accountability.
The spokesman described the document as a new standard in Nigerian politics, “a reformist progressive ideology” noting that political parties since 1999 had largely failed to establish a comprehensive ethical framework capable of binding their elected officials.
He said an ADC senators, members of the House of Representatives, state legislators, governors or president would be expected to operate within the principles contained in the document.
He stressed that elected officials would not be permitted to hide behind the party or claim that their actions were personal decisions.
“Politics and politicians in Nigeria have become widely discredited. Nigeria has become a country that does not reward good behaviour and does not punish bad behaviour,” he said.
The ADC spokesman said the party’s approach was designed to reverse that culture by making ethical conduct an integral part of political leadership.
He added that the party’s National Chairman, Senator David Mark, had been a major driving force behind the initiative, saying Mark had consistently advocated the emergence of a new generation of Nigerian politicians who would regard politics as a vehicle for public service rather than personal enrichment.
Quoting the party chairman, he said the objective was to establish “a standard to support a process that will produce a successor generation of Nigerian politicians that would believe that politics is for a purpose, not for self-aggrandisement.”
The party also used the occasion to highlight its proposed policy on abandoned government projects.
It added that the principle would also apply to legislative programmes, explaining that an ADC legislator who takes over from another party member would be required to continue viable bills and legislative initiatives already adopted as part of the party’s agenda.
According to him, this would help reverse the situation in which Nigeria has become “a graveyard of abandoned projects.”
He said the ADC recognised the challenges posed by systemic corruption, impunity and declining public trust and had consequently presented the Code of Ethics as “a binding covenant” between the party and Nigerians.
He disclosed that the party’s three presidential aspirants had not only signed the code but also sworn an oath committing themselves to its provisions.
The spokesman said the code would impose personal responsibility on every elected or appointed ADC official, stressing that no official would be allowed to shift responsibility for misconduct to the party.
Among the commitments contained in the code, he said, was a pledge by officials not to use public office to enrich themselves, their families or associates.
He quoted the code as stating: “I shall never use my position to enrich myself, my family, or my associates.”
Officials would also be required to live within their means and ensure that their personal lifestyles reflected legitimate sources of income.
The spokesman said the provisions were intended to empower party members and Nigerians to challenge conduct inconsistent with the party’s promises.
“When you see an ADC official in a 14-vehicle convoy, you have a right, as an ADC member, to say, ‘No. This is not what we promised. We said it will be different,’” he said.
Also in his remarks, National Legal Adviser of he party, Prof. Oserheimen Osumbo said that the party will embark all legislative frame work to ensure the commitments in the “The Orange Book” are enforceable.
He said, “We need serious-minded people to ensure that these provisions of the constitution are respected and not treated with levity or as a joke. The way they can do that is by giving their votes to ADC legislators, ADC executives, and so forth and so on, so that we can have the ability to amend the constitution where necessary, to implement the constitution as both the spirit and the letter of the constitution must be respected.
“You need people with the right ethical credentials, the right kind of conduct to know that these things must not be treated with levity, and they must be respected. That is why we are launching this code of ethics. It is a standard, and we expect that all elected officers of ADC live up to this ethical code.
“Where fresh legislation is demanded, because they cannot be enforced. I consider that point that you cannot go to court to enforce it because it’s an ethical standard. It is not a law. So you need to transform this code of ethics into legislation.”
The event was attended by the leaders of he party including Hon. CID Maduabum and other stakeholders.
