Chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mallam Salihu Lukman, has said the party would ensure “a zero-impunity state and independent electoral management free from executive control,” if it forms the next government.
Lukman, a former Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), in a statement on Friday, disclosed that the policy principles and manifestos of the party, which were adopted during the April 14, 2026, National Convention, commit to performance audits and value-for-money governance, subsidiarity and fiscal responsibility, living wage, tripartite labour governance and productivity alignment.
“This is what ADC and the coalition of opposition political leaders represent. This is what the commitment to rescue Nigeria represent and is what will be fully unfolded once candidates of the party for the 2027 elections emerge,” he stated.
Lukman who is a member of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led ADC Policy and Manifesto Committee, further explained that the party’s policy principles were founded on three pillars – economic reform, structural and institutional intervention, and sequential resolutions.l
According to him, “every policy, from economic reform to security to social protection, must be measured by its impact on citizens; Nigeria’s challenges are structural and require coordinated, institutional solutions, not ad hoc interventions; reform is necessary, but it must be sequenced, supported, and humane, ensuring that Nigerians are not pushed further into hardship in the process.”
He boasted that the ADC has solutions to issues of subsidy removal, exchange rate management, rising unemployment, and inflationary pressure, among other challenges facing Nigerians.
Lukman listed the major policy thrusts of the party to include agriculture, the economy, energy, environment, mineral resources, foreign policy, governance and rule of law, as well as health, human capital and social protection, productivity and industrialisation, infrastructure and transport and security.
According to him, ADC’s major diagnosis of the agricultural sector is that the sector is operating under severe structural stress, resulting in rising production costs, falling farm-gate prices, insecurity in food-producing areas, weak technology adoption, and climate pressure.
“A key consequence is growing reliance on imports to fill domestic gaps,” he noted, adding that to address the challenges, the manifesto commits ADC to make food security a national security priority.
He disclosed that the policy principles outlined 34 recommendations, covering smallholder-centred food security and price stability, all-season agriculture through irrigation and water asset optimisation, agricultural mechanisation and productivity benchmarking, zero-based and performance-based budgeting, and agricultural transformation for food security and growth.
“On governance, the manifesto commits ADC to put citizens at the centre of governance,” he added.
Lukman further stated the manifesto commits ADC to declare a state of emergency on education, and as well, outlined 16 recommendations to address challenges of people-centred development, universal access to quality education, system-wide education reform, national workforce development strategy, a rights-based social protection, disability inclusion, integrated poverty reduction strategy, decentralised social protection delivery, among others.
“Similarly, the manifesto commits the ADC to prioritise preventive healthcare based on which the policy principles outlined 28 recommendations to address challenges covering health as national productivity and security policy; primary healthcare centre (PHC) as the foundation of universal health coverage; universal coverage through insurance expansion and risk pooling; PHC under one roof with clear accountability; workforce retention as a national emergency priority; national disease surveillance and emergency response readiness; health equity for vulnerable population, etc.
“To address the security challenges facing the country, the manifesto commits ADC to operate a security framework across four coordinated levels – local-level intelligence, state-level prevention and deterrence, national-level coordination and enforcement, and regional-level collaboration.
“Invariably, this is what will endear the ADC and its candidates to Nigerians and is what will produce the electoral victory for the party.
“With elected and appointed representatives committed to implementing the ADC manifesto, Nigeria shall rise and shine!” he stated.
