On Structural Reform, Electoral Credibility, Agricultural Sovereignty, and National Economic Integration

Distinguished Members of the ADC Policy and Manifesto Committee,

I write as a concerned Nigerian and National Coordinator of the South East Patriots (SEP), at a time when Nigeria stands at a defining crossroads. Your committee has not been convened merely to draft a manifesto; you have been entrusted with the responsibility of articulating a credible national rescue framework.

Nigeria’s crisis is not limited to economic hardship. It is structural. It is constitutional. It is institutional. It is moral.

Citizens increasingly perceive governance as extractive rather than protective. Elections are seen as transactional rather than representative. Policies appear reactionary rather than strategic. Trust — the invisible currency of democracy — is dangerously depleted.

If the African Democratic Congress seeks to present itself as a genuine alternative, its manifesto must go beyond rhetoric. It must present a coherent structural reform agenda rooted in fairness, productivity, accountability, and national cohesion.

This letter addresses four foundational pillars that must define that agenda.

I. ELECTORAL REFORM: CREDIBLE ELECTIONS AS THE FOUNDATION OF ANTI-CORRUPTION

No anti-corruption strategy can succeed if the electoral process that produces leadership is compromised.

Corruption in Nigeria does not begin in office — it begins in flawed elections.

When elections are manipulated:

  • Political office becomes an investment to be recouped;

  • Public funds become recovery mechanisms;

  • Accountability becomes irrelevant;

  • Governance becomes transactional.

Therefore, credible elections are the most powerful anti-corruption reform available.

The ADC manifesto must commit to:

1. Mandatory Electronic Accreditation and Real-Time Result Transmission

Polling unit results must be transmitted electronically and made publicly verifiable. Once declared and signed at the polling unit, results should enjoy constitutional protection from arbitrary alteration.

2. Time-Bound Electoral Dispute Resolution

Electoral petitions should be resolved before swearing-in wherever feasible. Justice delayed weakens legitimacy.

3. Transparent Political Party Financing

Clear campaign expenditure caps, mandatory public disclosure of donations, and enforceable penalties for violations must be institutionalised.

4. Severe Penalties for Electoral Crimes

Vote buying, ballot snatching, falsification of results, and misuse of state resources must attract mandatory disqualification and criminal prosecution.

Converting the ICPC into a National Commission for Electoral and Political Integrity

Nigeria’s anti-corruption architecture remains fragmented. A bold reform is required.

The ADC should consider restructuring the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) into a specialised National Commission for Electoral and Political Integrity with authority to:

  • Investigate and prosecute electoral offences;

  • Monitor campaign financing in real time;

  • Audit political party finances annually;

  • Maintain a registry of electoral offenders;

  • Enforce automatic disqualification of convicted electoral criminals.

Credible elections reduce corruption at its root. Leaders who depend on voters fear the electorate. Leaders who fear the electorate govern responsibly.

Democracy must become Nigeria’s first anti-corruption institution.

II. CONSTITUTIONAL ROTATION AND A SINGLE SIX-YEAR PRESIDENTIAL TERM

Nigeria’s political tension is deeply connected to the absence of structured presidential succession fairness.

In the Fourth Republic, the South-West has produced two Presidents — Olusegun Obasanjo and Bola Ahmed Tinubu — each occupying full electoral cycles.

Katsina State alone has produced two Presidents under the banner of the North — Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari.

Meanwhile, the South-East has produced none in the Fourth Republic.

This pattern may be defended under strict majoritarian theory. But Nigeria is not a homogenous state; it is a federation shaped by historical conflict, regional sensitivities, and fragile cohesion.

Rotation that permits repeated occupancy by some zones while others remain permanently excluded cannot be described as justice.

Constitutionalising Rotation

The ADC must commit to:

  • Embedding presidential rotation explicitly in the Constitution;

  • Structuring rotation strictly among the six geopolitical zones;

  • Commencing future cycles from zones with least historical representation.

This is not entitlement. It is stability.

When each zone knows its turn will come, politics becomes less existential. National tension reduces. Unity strengthens.

A Single Non-Renewable Six-Year Term

The current two-term structure encourages:

  • Perpetual campaigning;

  • Excessive political spending;

  • Resource diversion for re-election;

  • Corruption for political survival.

A single six-year term would:

  • Eliminate re-election desperation;

  • Encourage long-term planning;

  • Reduce campaign financing pressure;

  • Strengthen accountability through legacy rather than longevity.

Rotation plus a single six-year term would produce a predictable 36-year national cycle — stabilising succession and weakening the incentives that drive corruption.

III. STRATEGIC DREDGING OF THE RIVER NIGER: NATIONAL COMMERCIAL INTEGRATION

The River Niger is Nigeria’s most underutilised economic artery.

Comprehensive dredging would allow small and medium commercial vessels from Eastern ports to transport goods inland to:

  • Lokoja in Kogi State;

  • Makurdi in Benue State.

This would create a functioning North–South commercial corridor.

Economic Benefits

  1. Reduced dependence on long-haul trucking;

  2. Lower logistics costs per tonne;

  3. Reduced road deterioration and accidents;

  4. Expanded interregional trade;

  5. Creation of inland logistics hubs.

Lokoja could emerge as a central inland distribution hub.
Makurdi could become a strategic agro-logistics export node.

Job Creation

River corridor development would stimulate employment in:

  • Port operations;

  • Vessel fabrication and maintenance;

  • Warehousing;

  • Agro-processing;

  • Security and river navigation services.

This is not a sectional project. Northern markets would benefit from cheaper access to goods, while agricultural produce from Benue and surrounding states could move efficiently toward export terminals.

Infrastructure builds unity more effectively than rhetoric.

IV. AGRICULTURE, FOOD SUFFICIENCY, AND THE RICE POLICY QUESTION

No nation can import its way to food security.

Nigeria must commit to structured domestic food production, not reactive import cycles.

Recent flooding of Nigerian markets with foreign rice under the justification of reducing prices raises serious long-term concerns.

While temporary imports may lower prices in the short term, the consequences include:

  • Collapse of local rice farms;

  • Closure of rice mills;

  • Loss of rural employment;

  • Discouragement of agro-investment;

  • Return to structural import dependency.

Over the past decade, significant investments were made in rice production across multiple states. Undermining those investments for short-term price relief is economically unsustainable.

The ADC Must Clarify:

  • Is it committed to protecting domestic rice production?

  • Will imports be conditional and supplementary, rather than market-destroying?

  • What is the measurable roadmap toward food sufficiency?

Policy Framework for Agricultural Stability

The manifesto should include:

  1. Strategic grain reserves for price stabilisation;

  2. Conditional import controls tied to verified production gaps;

  3. Investment in storage and rural roads;

  4. Mechanisation and irrigation support;

  5. Agro-processing industrial zones;

  6. Policy consistency to protect investor confidence.

Agriculture must be treated as an industrial strategy, not subsistence activity.

Food security is national security.

CONCLUSION: STRUCTURAL REFORM OR POLITICAL REPETITION

Distinguished Members of the Manifesto Committee,

Nigeria does not need another manifesto filled with adjectives. It needs structural clarity.

  • Protect the ballot and reform electoral enforcement.

  • Embed fairness through constitutional rotation.

  • Stabilise governance with a single six-year term.

  • Unlock the River Niger as a national trade corridor.

  • Protect agriculture and domestic production from policy instability.

If ADC wishes to be taken seriously as a rescue movement, it must distinguish itself through courage on structural reform.

History does not reward those who speak cautiously in times of crisis.

It rewards those who act decisively.

Respectfully,

Obunike Ohaegbu
National Coordinator, South East Patriots (SEP)
Ezesinachi Ukpor

Written from his village in Anambra State.