Politics Without Ethics Is Organised Criminality, Says ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said that playing politics without a code of ethics amounts to sheer criminality where political actors operate without being held accountable for their actions.

The party lamented that Nigerians are the way they are today because of the kind of politics being played by elected and appointed public office holders.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday during the unveiling of the ADC code of ethical conduct, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, insisted that political actors must learn to play a different kind of politics.

Abdullahi declared that if elected into office, ADC elected and appointed public office holders will be compelled to prioritise the public interest above personal, family or political interests.

He said, “I am delighted to say that this is the first time any political party in Nigeria, at least from 1999 till this moment, can say we have developed a code of ethics and a principle of governance that will guide our members.”

According to him, the coalition that birthed the ADC was founded on the realisation that Nigeria’s problems were partly rooted in the prevailing political culture, which he said had become widely discredited.

“When the coalition movement started, there was one fundamental realisation: why are we here? Why are we in this coalition? Why are we trying to build a political party?

Abdullahi said the party’s governance principles were developed to provide a basis for holding its members accountable, noting that Nigeria had become a country where “honest behaviour” was rarely rewarded and misconduct often went unpunished.

He said the ADC expected every elected official on its platform, from the president to members of the National and state assemblies, to be guided by the party’s governance principles.

“Our hope and our expectation is that a member elected on the platform of ADC will say, ‘I cannot do this because I am ADC,’” he said.

Abdullahi also highlighted the party’s proposed policy on abandoned government projects, saying any project initiated by an ADC administration must be completed by subsequent administrations, irrespective of changes in leadership.

“Any project that is started by ADC must be completed by ADC. If we start a project and whoever started it leaves office, whoever is taking over from him or her has a duty to complete that project,” Abdullahi said.

He added that the principle would also apply to legislative initiatives, saying an ADC legislator who takes over from another party member would be expected to continue bills and legislative programmes initiated by the predecessor.

“It represents the agenda of the political party, not the individual that he was promoting,” he said.
On the code of ethics, Abdullahi said the ADC was rejecting the notion that politics provided a licence for dishonesty, corruption or misconduct.

“We have got to a point where we have been socialised as Nigerians to think that morality and ethics cannot go together,” he said.

“ADC is saying no. The highest form of morality and ethics is politics, and politics devoid of ethics is just organised criminality.”

He said the party’s code recognised the country’s problems of systemic corruption, impunity and declining public trust, describing the document as a “binding covenant” between the party and Nigerians.

Abdullahi disclosed that the three individuals – Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen who contested for the ADC presidential ticket, had signed the code and sworn an oath to abide by its provisions.

He said the document went beyond a political declaration, describing it as a departure from “the culture of self-serving politics” in favour of ethical leadership, public accountability and the common good.