The House of Representatives has created a Website to enhance public awareness and interaction on the Independent Candidacy Bill.
Addressing newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, the Spokesperson of the house, Rep. Akin Rotimi (APC-Ekiti state), said that the primary aim of the bill is to deepen political participation as much as possible.
He said that the country had witnessed seven electoral circles since the commencement of the fourth republic and that it was important to improve the system as the nation looks forward to the eighth electoral circle.
“Because it is a crucial bill, it is a constitutional amendment bill and is a bill that will require a robust input from stakeholders across boards, we have recommitted the bill to the Committee on Constitutional Review for more scrutiny.
“It will go through the enter process of constitutional review, we have done a lot of advocacy among legislators and the general public and the feedback if very welcoming.
“We have also created a website “www.independentcandidacybill.ng where you can find a lot of information especially on what the bill is not, because there are a lot of misconceptions of the technical details of the bill,” he said.
Rotimi who is the sponsor of the bill recalled that the bill was first introduced in the 7th Assembly and through the 8th and 9th assemblies, it did not enjoy full stakeholders support.
In her remarks, Ms Ibijoke Faborode, the Chief Executive Officer of ElectHER, a nonprofit organisation providing technical support for the bill said that the website will become operation on Friday, Oct.18.
She said that the media is the conscience of the public and it was instrumental for the media to help the public interpret the bill properly.
Faborode said the bill is very critical as it help advance democracy saying that the organisation is relying on the media to drive the right narrative.
She said that it was important for the citizen to the bill as a “citizen’s bill” for the advancement of Nigeria’s democracy.
NAN reports that the Independent Candidacy Bill scaled first reading on Sept. 28, in the House of Representatives.
The bill states that in the case of a presidential election, an independent candidate must obtain the verified signatures of at least 10 per cent of registered voters from at least two-thirds majority of all states of the federation.
It said that the signatures shall be verified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and that a registered voter shall not sign for more than one independent candidate in respect of the same office.
It said that notwithstanding any other law, any individual eligible to vote or contest an election into the State House of Assembly shall have the right to be a candidate for election.
It stated that an independent candidate must obtain verified signatures of at least 10 per cent of registered voters from at least two-thirds majority of the electoral ward in the state constituency. (NAN)
