Yesterday, Tuesday 8th of March, about 49 Political Parties signed the Code of Conduct for Political Parties, which had been meticulously prepared by INEC, and should have been signed by all parties much earlier than now. Most of the major Political Parties with a stake in the outcome of the April elections, such as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (C.P.C), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Labor Party (L.P) signed the document. The largest Political Party in Nigeria, which has also given itself the title of the largest Party in Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party (P.D.P), however, declined to sign the document.
The Code of Conduct for Political Parties is a very important initiative which has been widely welcomed by all stakeholders and the public. Its main objective is to commit all political parties, candidates, and other institutions with a role to play to some core obligations which are critical to the creation of an enabling environment, a level playing field and the conduct of free, fair and credible elections. It is meant to be voluntarily subscribed to by political parties, but once it is accepted by at least 50% of all Political Parties, it stands as binding on all political parties. In this respect, therefore, since 75% of all political parties signed the Code of Conduct yesterday, the PDP’s refusal to sign the document would mean little to its legitimacy. But it says a lot about the PDP’s commitment to the conduct of free and fair elections in April, that it refused to sign the document.
The Code of Conduct addresses major areas around campaigns where abuses have become routine and institutionalized. For instance, the Code demands that “all Political Parties shall separate party business from Government business. As such, political parties shall not utilize public resources for party activities and shall not permit any of its sponsored candidates holding public office to use public resources for the purpose of political campaigning in elections”. The Code of Conduct also demands equal access by all political parties and candidates to government-owned print and electronic media. Similarly, the Code of Conduct prohibits political parties or their candidates from using any means other than the legal system to express grievances after elections. In particular, it prohibits all political parties and their candidates from the use of violent or any other extra-judicial means in expressing their rejection of election results. Furthermore, the Code commits political parties their agents or candidates not to protect or exercise undue influence for the release of persons arrested for carrying weapons or infringing on any electoral law, rules or regulations.
It should be obvious to all Nigerians that what the Code of Conduct for Political Parties does is to restate laws, guidelines and rules drawn from the Constitution, the Electoral Act and other statutes which are designed to regulate conduct of political parties, politicians, the media and other related institutions, and which are binding. They are not a new set of rules or regulations requiring debate or some serious disagreement. In fact, the Code of Conduct is largely a symbolic means of ensuring that all players understand and accept the rules of Political and electoral engagement.
Nonetheless, it is an important document to commit to, because it assures all parties and contestants and the nation that the same values and standards of conduct will apply in the electoral contest. Even parties which refuse or are unable to sign it will be bound by the laws and other regulations which it captures. This is why the PDP’s failure to subscribe to the Code of Conduct when 49 other parties did should not unduly worry the nation. The PDP cannot repudiate the Constitution of the Federal Republic or the Electoral Act, or the rules and guidelines which are routinely issued by INEC. It cannot operate outside the laws of the land, no matter how powerful or big it thinks it is. The PDP is just one Party out of 63 registered Parties, and its failure to subscribe to the Code of Conduct for Political Parties has given its opposition the higher moral ground.
But the motives being ascribed to the PDP’s refusal to subscribe to the Code of Conduct are serious enough for the Party to reconsider its stand. Many of its opponents believe its motives for refusing to subscribe to the Code of Conduct relates to its unwillingness to accept the requirements for separating political activities from public office during campaigns. This is a very serious problem for Nigerian politics as a whole, but it is more acute for the PDP which has both the Presidency, the majority and leadership of the National Assembly, and all but eight Governors. To commit to a requirement that no government resources or assets are to be used for political campaigns is a very tall order indeed. If it were possible for the PDP and other Parties which control government resources to live by this rule, no public funds will be used to fly planes around to carry the President all over the country, while his opponents spend tens of millions to hire same. We will not see long convoys of vehicles belonging to government; fuelled by government funds and a whole army of government officials and security personnel accompanying Governors to every nook and corner of their States to campaign, while their opponents have to source for personal or borrowed funds to do this. We will not see or hear government-owned media giving incumbents all the coverage they want, while the opposition has to pay huge amounts for publicity or is treated as if it does not exist.
The Code of Conduct for Political Parties which majority of the political parties subscribed to yesterday is a symbolic re-affirmation of the need to respect the basic rules of electoral engagement. The fact that the largest political party, the PDP has refused to subscribe to it can only mean that it stands to lose most when there is a level playing field. This should encourage INEC and other institutions to ensure that every requirement for free and fair elections is in place.
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