The African Democratic Congress has accused the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of undermining Nigeria’s ethical and democratic standards through his role in the passage of the Electoral Act 2026.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Sunday, the party condemned provisions of the law that, according to the ADC, were designed to protect dishonesty, weaken opposition parties, and erode public confidence in the nation’s democracy.

While speaking at a reception for President Tinubu’s wife, Remi Tinubu, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Saturday, Akpabio dismissed the opposition’s objections to the Electoral Act 2026, insisting that he had acted correctly.

In response, the ADC stated that the Senate President should anticipate harsh judgment from history for his role in imposing the 2026 Electoral Act on Nigerians, particularly the provision that removes certificate forgery as a valid ground for challenging election results, a move the party says will remain a lasting legacy of the ruling party.

The party stated, “The African Democratic Congress has taken note of the recent comments credited to the Senate President, His Excellency Godswill Akpabio, in which he dismissed the opposition’s complaints about the 2026 Electoral Act as evidence that he and the Senate he leads have made the right laws. In other words, if the laws had been agreeable to the opposition and did not elicit any complaint, those would have been the wrong laws.

“The embedded logic of this statement exposes the subterfuge behind the entire business of the Electoral Amendment. It was all designed to make the ruling party and the President happy.

“Amendments are made to laws in order to make them better in meeting national aspirations and advancing the collective best interests of citizens towards achieving a better society. It is only in a rogue democracy, or more precisely, in a kakistocracy such as the one we are in today, that the legislature would sit down to make laws that actually lower society’s ethical standards.

“How can any self-respecting person be happy with himself for presiding over the making of a law that now says the election of an individual can no longer be challenged on the grounds of certificate forgery as provided in Section 138 of the Electoral Act 2026, even though this is in direct contradiction to Sections 66, 107, 137, and 182 of the Constitution, which clearly disqualify anyone who has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from holding public office?”

The ADC stated that this amended legislation not only creates a serious constitutional conflict but also highlights the lengths to which a desperate political party would go to drag the country down to its level.

It continued, “This amended legislation not only creates a troubling constitutional conflict, but it also shows how far a desperate political party like the APC would go in bringing the country down to its level. It is difficult to imagine a more damaging message to send to Nigerians, particularly to our young people, than the suggestion that certificate forgery should no longer have serious consequences.

“What kind of lawmakers gather together to conceive, deliberate, and pass legislation that appears designed to protect dishonesty rather than punish it? Such actions not only weaken our democracy; they lower the moral estimation of our country in the eyes of the world and reinforce the dangerous stereotype that corruption is acceptable in Nigerian public life.

“If Senator Akpabio wishes to concern himself with the activities of the opposition, that is his choice. But Nigerians will ultimately judge leaders not by their ridicule of the opposition, but by their record. And as it stands, the legacy of this National Assembly will be that of the most spineless and compromised legislature in Nigeria’s democratic history, a legislature that made a law which lowered the nation’s ethical standard just to serve the interest of one man.

“While Senator Akpabio can continue to mock the opposition as much as he likes, it is important to note that as a growing party and the choice of millions of Nigerians, the ADC remains focused on building a credible political alternative capable of restoring integrity, competence, and accountability to governance in our country. History is patient. And when the story of this period in Nigeria’s democratic journey is written, Nigerians will remember those who stood to defend the integrity of our democracy, and those who chose to weaken it.” (Sunday PUNCH)