ADC Inaugurates Party Manifesto Committee as Chairman Calls for People-Centred Policies

The National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David A. B. Mark, GCON, on Monday charged party leaders and policy experts to develop compassionate, practical, and people-focused policies capable of rescuing Nigeria from deepening economic hardship and insecurity.

Speaking at the inauguration of the ADC Policy and Manifesto Committee in Abuja, Senator Mark said the exercise was not a routine party activity but a critical responsibility placed on the ADC as a political movement committed to offering Nigerians credible alternatives to what he described as years of policy failure under the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He lamented the worsening living conditions across the country, noting that Nigerians are working harder while earning less, battling rising food prices, unstable power supply, increasing taxes, and persistent insecurity. According to him, the scale of hardship facing citizens has reached alarming levels and demands urgent, realistic, and compassionate policy responses.

Senator Mark emphasised that Nigerians are no longer interested in abstract arguments or impressive statistics but in policies that directly improve their daily lives. He said the ADC’s mission is to bridge the long-standing gap between ideas and reality by crafting solutions that address the root causes of poverty, economic decline, and social distress, beginning with critical sectors such as energy, which he described as central to productivity, job creation, and national prosperity.

Read his full speech;

SPEECH BY THE NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF AFRICAN DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (ADC), SENATOR DAVID A. B. MARK, GCON AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE POLICY AND MANIFESTO COMMITTEE OF THE PARTY.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND, 2026

Distinguished members of the National Working Committee,
Leaders and elders of our great party,
Members of the ADC Policy and Manifesto Committee,
Party faithful, ladies and gentlemen,
Gentlemen of the Press.

1. Today is an important day not because we are inaugurating another committee but because of the responsibility this inauguration places on us as a political party on a rescue mission and as citizens of a country in distress.

2. Across the country, families are working harder and earning less, and food prices rise faster than wages, salaries and incomes can cope. Power supply remains epileptic even as tariffs increase astronomically. Strangely, the APC government continue to aggravate the citizens’ tax burdens. Insecurity continues to disrupt people’s social and economic lives.

3. Nigerians are suffering today perhaps more than any other time in our history. Poverty stares us in the face. Yes, poverty and hardship have always existed but the hardship and poverty that Nigerians are experiencing under the APC administration have gotten worse.
This situation has been brought about and compounded by the government’s needlessly vicious policies. What Nigerians are therefore desperately looking for are credible alternative ideas, actions and policies. They want policies that would improve their lives today and lay a solid foundation on which they can improve their future. They want policies that show compassion.

4. Nigerians are not looking for clever arguments. They want policies and actions that show that the government understands what they are going through and is prepared to act with clarity, courage and most importantly with compassion.

5. This is what the African Democratic Congress represents, a party that puts the people first. Nigerians are not looking for who to blame for their suffering, they already know who is responsible for that. They are looking for who will ease the pains. They want real, practical solutions that address the challenges of today, not policies that expect them to continue to give and give and give.

6. One thing I have noticed over the years and I am sure most of you can attest to is that Nigeria does not suffer from a shortage of ideas. What we suffer from is a failure to connect ideas to reality. Too often, policy in this country has been an academic exercise detached from the very people it is meant to serve. Documents are produced, committees are set up, reports are written, white papers are produced, yet nothing changes in the lives of the people which is what matters most.

7. Policy is not about sounding intelligent. It is not about volume or complexity. You must resist the temptation to treat symptoms while ignoring causes. You must go beneath the surface. You must think outside the box. You must ask hard questions about why things are not working in this country. This is the burden before you.

8. In recent years, the government has continued to regale us with statistics about increased revenue, economic growth, and GDP performance. These figures are meaningless when they do not positively affect the lives of the people. A growing economy that leaves the majority behind in poverty is fundamentally flawed. Economic progress must be measured by its impact on people’s lives, not by statistics alone.

9. Take energy, for example. When energy is expensive and unreliable, productivity collapses, businesses struggle, jobs disappear, and poverty deepens. Any serious policy conversation must be anchored on a simple but crucial question; how do we make energy affordable and accessible to the majority of our people?