Hayatu-Deen Challenges Atiku, Amaechi To Publicly Declare Their Interest To ADC Code Of Ethics
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ABUJA – Presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, has challenged fellow aspirants in the party’s presidential race, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to publicly declare their commitment to the ADC’s newly introduced Governance Principles and Code of Ethics, known as The Orange Book.
Hayatu-Deen, who was recently screened by the party’s Presidential Screening Committee, said one of the most remarkable aspects of the ADC’s screening process was that every presidential and gubernatorial aspirant was issued a copy of The Orange Book and required to affirm its principles.
In a post on his social media handles, Hayatu-Deen described the document as “perhaps the first of its kind in modern Nigerian politics.”
He said the Orange Book represents a binding ethical covenant that rejects self-serving politics and places service to the Nigerian people at the centre of public office.
“The Orange Book is not a slogan. It is a declaration that public office is not for self-enrichment, personal glory, or political entitlement, but for service to the Nigerian people,” he said.
According to him, aspirants seeking the party’s mandate are expected to affirm principles of integrity, transparency, accountability, merit, discipline, rejection of corruption, opposition to vote-buying and godfatherism, and a commitment to place the public interest above personal ambition.
Hayatu-Deen noted that two provisions of the document particularly resonated with him: “Leadership is measured not by individual legacy, but by the enduring impact of completed, purposeful, and people-centred action,” and, “I am a public servant, not a ruler of Nigerians.”
He said: “These are not ordinary political declarations. They are standards that every leader, irrespective of political party, should be willing to uphold.”
The economist and former Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), publicly affirmed his commitment to abide by both the spirit and letter of the ADC’s Code of Ethics, while calling on other aspirants in the race to do the same openly and without reservation.
