Follow Us on Google
• As ADA threatens INEC with contempt proceedings over Access Code
From Ndubuisi Orji and Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has unveiled its “Orange Book”, containing the party’s Governance Principles and Code of Ethics for public officials elected on its platform, promising to break from what it described as Nigeria’s culture of self-serving politics.
The development came as the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), one of the political associations prequalified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for registration as a political party, issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the electoral body to comply with a Federal High Court order on its Access Code or face contempt proceedings.
The two developments have brought questions of political accountability, electoral participation and the conduct of political actors to the fore ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking at the unveiling of the Orange Book at the ADC National Secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the document was designed to establish ethical standards for elected officials and provide Nigerians with a basis for holding them accountable.
Abdullahi said the coalition that gave birth to the ADC had recognised that Nigeria’s current condition was partly a product of the kind of politics practised in the country and that changing the situation required a different political culture.
“When the coalition movement started, there was one fundamental realisation, which is: why are we here? Why are we in this coalition? Why are we trying to build a political party? “The answer was very clear: Nigeria is the state we are in today because of the kind of politics we are playing. And if we are to solve the problems Nigeria is facing, we have to play a different kind of politics.”
He said the Orange Book was necessary because politics and politicians had become widely discredited, while honest behaviour was not adequately rewarded and bad conduct was not sufficiently punished.
According to him, the document would provide a framework for holding ADC members in public office to agreed standards of governance and ethics. “We needed a book that would articulate the governance and ethical principles for a political party on the basis of which you hold members accountable. No party before us since 1999 has done it. I doubt if any political party in the history of politics in Nigeria has had anything like this.”
Abdullahi said the code would apply to ADC members elected into the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly, governorship and presidential offices.
He said elected officials on the party’s platform should be able to reject actions inconsistent with the code simply because they were bound by the ethical standards of the ADC.
The spokesman said Nigeria had become conditioned to separating morality from politics, resulting in systemic corruption, impunity and declining public trust.
“We have got to a point where we have been socialised as Nigerians to think that morality and ethics cannot go together.”
He described the Orange Book as a “binding covenant” between the ADC and Nigerians, disclosing that the party’s three presidential aspirants had signed the code and taken an oath to uphold it.
Abdullahi said the document was more than a declaration, describing it as a departure from the culture of self-serving politics and a framework centred on ethical leadership, public accountability and the common good.
He said the code would empower party members and the wider public to question the conduct of ADC officials in government.
“We have got to a point in this country where we don’t ask questions anymore. So the ADC is saying that when we come into government and you see an individual, an ADC official, in a 14-car convoy, you have to write as an ADC member to say no. This is not what we promised. We said it would be different,” he said.
The party said the Orange Book would remain a framework for ensuring that its commitment to ethical leadership and accountable government applied to its elected officials at every level.
Meanwhile, the ADA has threatened to commence contempt proceedings against the INEC Chairman, the Director of the Department of Election and Party Monitoring (EPM) and other relevant officials unless the commission complies with a Federal High Court order directing it to issue an Access Code to the association’s authentic leadership.
In a statement signed by its Protem National Secretary, Dr Aminu Ahmed, the ADA said INEC’s alleged failure to comply with the order had stalled its registration process and prevented it from uploading details required to complete its registration as a political party.
The association, which is one of eight political associations prequalified by INEC for registration, said it had given the commission’s chairman 48 hours from August 10, 2026, to release the Access Code.
“Based on the order of the court to issue an Access Code to us within 72 hours from the date of the court’s judgement, INEC was supposed to have issued the Access Code latest by 4th August 2026.
“INEC has now been in continuous defiance of a valid court order for a period of 39 days today and counting,” the party said.
The ADA said the code was required to enable it to upload its list of party officials, office addresses, administrative staff and other information prescribed by INEC for the registration process.
It described the alleged non-compliance as an assault on the rule of law and an attempt to frustrate its registration and deny its members and supporters the opportunity to participate in the electoral process.
The dispute arose from a suit filed by ADA leaders, Chief Akin A. Rickets and Dr Aminu Ahmed, through their counsel, M.U. Kumalia, against INEC and Dr Umar Ardo over the issuance of an Access Code to Ardo.
The plaintiffs had argued that Ardo was neither the National Chairman nor Secretary of the association and was therefore not entitled to receive the code.
In a judgment delivered on June 29, Justice Peter Lifu ruled that INEC’s issuance of the Access Code to Ardo, whom the court held was not a recognised protem secretary of the political association, was illegal, wrongful, null and void.
The court also ordered INEC to open its portal for one week to enable the ADA leadership to upload the required documents, including a digital register of members and other registration information.
It further directed INEC to generate another Access Code for the association within 72 hours and issue it to the protem chairman or secretary named in a letter dated October 10, 2025, and received by INEC on October 13, 2025.
The letter was tendered as Exhibit ADA 3 in the plaintiffs’ amended originating summons.
The ADA said it would commence contempt proceedings if INEC failed to comply with the court order within the stipulated period.
As of press time, INEC had not issued a public response to the ADA’s latest demand.
