Ahead of the 2023 general, the House of Representatives has cleared the way for independent candidates, not sponsored by any political party to contest for elective offices.
This is as the House on Tuesday passed for second reading, a Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to allow for independent candidacy to any elective office in Nigeria.
The present electoral system as defined by Section 131(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulated that one can only contest for elective office if he or she is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party.
In a lead debate, the sponsor of the Independent Candidacy Bill, Mohammed Mongonu (APC, Borno), argued that the independent candidacy would spur true federalism in the country and deepen the democracy being practiced.
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The House Chief Whip asserted that the current challenges in the political firmament prompted the Bill, which would allow every citizen to vie for political offices, adding that the rules of politics were not cast in stone but were subjected to amendments to meet contemporary challenges.
Mongonu said views abound that few people who hijack political parties hinder those that have contrary views from theirs from expressing themselves politically on the platform of a political party.
According to Mongonu, “The perception right now in the political arena is that political parties are often hijacked by a powerful few and the decided who becomes the candidate for the party in any given election.
“Some people who have genuine intention to contest elections and make meaningful contribution in office are often schemed out. It is against this background that I move this Bill to create space for independent candidacy in our political process”.
Speaking in support of the Bill, Sergius Ogun (PDP, Edo) said Nigeria practiced the American Presidential System of government where independent candidacy was allowed and the country could not deviate from this norm.
When the independent candidacy comes and is fully established in Nigeria’s politics, it would go a long way to strengthen democracy in the country, he said.
He added that it would be democratically expedient to allow well-meaning Nigerians to avail themselves of the system where they could have an independent platform to contribute their patriotic quota.
Similarly, according to Aminu Suleiman (APC, Kano), the Bill seeks to expand the political and personal rights of people to function devoid of imposition and interference of political godfathers.
The Bill will also ensure emergence of the popular choice made by the people without imposition by political party structures, he said, and expressed the hope that the Bill would enjoy speedy passage and assent of the president.
Opposing the Bill, James Faleke (APC, Lagos), doubted the capacity of the Nigerian political system to accommodate everyone that might ust wish to contest as it would be enormous for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to handle as well as for the resulting litigations that were bound to occur.
Ruling, the speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila stated that the Bill was a matter of constitutional amendment and it was voted on, passed for second reading and referred to the Special Ad-Hoc Committee on the Review of the Constitution.
