THE Senate, on Wednesday, approved the participation of  independent candidates  in the 2011 elections. Senators approved the amendment to Section 65 of the Constitution to pave the way for the emergence of independent candidates in subsequent elections in Nigeria.

The Senate President, Mr. David Mark, who presided over the sitting, said that the electronic voting pattern was adopted to hasten the process of passage of the bill.

On Wednesday, 96 senators were on the floor, with 85 voting for the approval of Section 65 to pave the way for independent candidates.

Eight senators voted against the amendment while two abstained.

The approved amendment to Section 65 reads: Section 65(2): “A person shall be qualified for election under subsection 1 of this section if:

(A) he has been educated up to tertiary institution level of its equivalent

(B)  and he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that party or he is an independent candidate.”

The bill also provides that  a person standing for election as an independent candidate shall be qualified for election having been nominated by no fewer than 10 registered voters in each of at least two thirds of the wards in the senatorial district in the case of a senator.

After approving the clauses of the bill, the senators then discovered that section 109 of the constitution equally proposed for amendment as part of the bill was missing and that there were clerical errors in  section 107.

The omitted part is section 109 of the 1999 Constitution, which is the state equivalent of section 68 of the 1999 Constitution. Section 68 (g) is the part that prohibits federal legislators from dumping the political party on whose ticket they were elected unless there is a division in that party.

Ninety-seven  senators  amended 36 clauses in the 1999 Constitution which saw wide-ranging alterations, including freeing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from the control of the president of the federation.

However, in amending section 160 of the constitution, the Senate has empowered INEC that it has the “powers to make its own rules or otherwise regulate its own procedure (which) shall not be subject to the approval or control of the president.”

Furthermore, the composition of judges for Election Petition Tribunals has been reduced from five to three, made up of a chairman and two  members.

Quorum is now set at two judges, as amended in section 285 (4). The new membership was reduced because “it would help in creating more tribunals for the quick determination of election petition.”

Section 285 (5) (a) (b) (c) was also amended to allow an Election Petition Tribunal dispense with any case and “deliver its judgment in writing within 180 days from the date of the filing of the petition.”

The Senate also  removed the appointment of state Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the president.

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