Hope rises for Nigerian youths as 12 states pass #NotTooYoungToRun bill ahead of 2019 polls

macfranc007 January 22, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Jerrywright Ukwu

- Twelve (12) states have passed the #NotTooYoungToRun bill

- The bill seeks to reduce the age of running for political office, from president to House of Assembly

- The campaign for the bill has been intensified by the Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement (YIAGA)

The #NotTooYoungToRun campaign is gathering momentum as a total of 12 states have passed the age reduction bill as at today, Monday, January 22.

The bill which seeks to reduce the age of running for political office, from president to House of Assembly is the brainchild of the Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement (YIAGA).

It was sponsored by Honourable Tony Nwulu (Lagos, PDP) in the House of Representatives and Senator Abdul-Aziz Nyako (Adamawa, APC) in the Nigerian Senate.

12 states pass #NotTooYoungToRun bill ahead of 2019 polls

The conveners of YIAGA have been consistent in their campaign for the #NotTooYoungToRun. Photo credit: YIAGA

The bill seeks to reduce the age of running for president to 35 and governor or senators to 30. It is a change from the initial 40 and 35 years limit respectively, which was mandated by the constitution.

NAIJ.com gathered that the bill would also pave the way for 25-year old Nigerians to legislate in the national and state assemblies across the country.

Twelve (12) states have passed the bill so far including; Kwara, Edo, Kastina, Nasarawa, Ekiti, Benue and Yobe. Others include Borno, Adamawa, Delta, Enugu, and Gombe.

However, NAIJ.com checks reveals that the bill needs to be passed by at least 24 State House of Assemblies, after which the president has to assent to it before it becomes law. The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the age reduction bill in July 2017.

As part of its campaign for the bill to be passed, YIAGA convened a town hall meeting in December 2017 where youths across Nigeria and members of the public gathered in Abuja to engage state lawmakers on the passage of the bill.

YIAGA also used the event to launch a new initiative tagged #ReadyToRun, which is the next phase of the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign.

The town hall meeting, which had in attendance Speakers of four (4) state House of Assemblies namely; Kwara, Benue, Ekiti, and Kaduna respectively, alongside representatives of Cross-River and Kebbi state Speakers; afforded the lawmakers opportunity to openly commit to passage of the bill.

Like France, can Nigeria have a young president too? on NAIJ.com TV