The House of Representatives Special Ad hoc Committee on the review of the 1999 constitution has approved independent candidacy for elections in Nigeria.
This development came out from the retreat organised by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) for members of the committee in Abuja.
After a robust debate on the clause contained in the amendment of the Electoral Act, members agreed that there was need to test independent candidacy in the political space, so as to reduce the imposition of candidates by political parties.
Addressing members after the retreat, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Sulaimon Lasun, Yussuff, who is the chairman of the committee, promised that the National Assembly would give Nigerians an enviable Constitution .
The chairman stated that the bill would considered at the plenary, so as to have members’ inputs and further subject the clause for a robust debate.
Lasun also appealed to members to take the final stage of the amendment process more seriously, so that National Assembly could give Nigerians a new constitution.
He said that after the retreat, there would be need for the members of the committee to meet the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution in order to harmonize positions.
