The Nigerian government is set to unveil a new national values charter which will serve as Nigeria’s compass for civic values, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said.

Mr Idris stated this at the opening of a one-day capacity-building conference organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) on Thursday in Abuja.

The conference, organised for House of Representatives Committee members on Ethics and Privileges, was on ‘Ethics and Code of Conduct as Tools for Enhanced Legislative Performance in Promoting Good Governance’.

Nigeria’s leader, President Bola Tinubu, has been accused of being a bad example of a promoter of ethics and good governance resulting from the damning revelations over claims of forged academic records at the Chicago State University, alleged identity theft, cocaine dealing and money laundering.

Mr Tinubu has fiercely thrown the kitchen sink to prevent the intelligence agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, from revealing his personal files regarding his time in the United States.

Mr Idris said, “The government of  President Bola Tinubu, through the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, is set to launch the National Values Charter, which will serve as Nigeria’s compass for civic values.

“NOA has diligently worked to produce a brand new National Values Charter for our dear country, in line with the president’s commitment to a moral, ethical, and cultural reawakening across the land.

“It is also for the entrenchment of the right values, attitudes, habits and perspectives deep in the hearts and minds of all the people of this great nation.”

The minister explained that the charter was carefully crafted and designed to accomplish two primary goals.

According to him, it is to ensure that all Nigerians are fully aware of their rights and protections under the Constitution and the laws of the land. 

Also, he said that the charters would ensure governments at all levels were equally aware of all the constitutionally guaranteed obligations that they owe to the citizenry.

“The second goal is captured in the seven commitments aspect of the charter. The charter, therefore,  nicely balances rights and responsibilities within the democratic context that our country proudly upholds,” the minister explained.

Mr Idris sought legislators’ support in assimilating and enthroning the charter as a tenet that would define future generations of Nigerians.

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, said the lawmakers were entrusted with the solemn responsibility of representing the people, shaping laws that govern the country, and upholding democratic values.

He said that at the heart of this responsibility lay the imperative of ethical conduct, saying that legislative ethics and adherence to a code of conduct remained foundational to the credibility and effectiveness of any parliamentary or legislative system.

NILDS’s boss, Abubakar Sulaiman, said the conference allowed committee members to deeply reflect and discuss how to strengthen the ethical framework guiding legislative conduct.

He said the committee’s decisions, the standards it upheld, and the behaviours it promoted would shape the reputation of the national assembly and, by extension, the overall perception of governance in Nigeria.

(NAN)