‘NotTooYoungToRun’ Activists Besiege National Assembly

Ololade Adeyanju/

Hundreds of young Nigerians, under auspices of ‘NotTooYoungToRun’ campaign, marched on the National Assembly, on Tuesday, calling for lawmakers to remove age barriers on political posts, including the presidency.

The 1999 constitution stipulates that the president has to be at least 40, while senators and state governors have to be aged 35 or above.

But with an increasingly young demographic in the country and a majority of voters (55.4 percent) in the 18-35 age group, there has been agitations against the age restriction.

About 500 protesters, wearing white T-shirts and brandishing placards proclaiming “#NotTooYoungToRun”, marched through the streets of Abuja to the National Assembly.

The have vowed to embark on a sit-in outside the parliament building until lawmakers vote on a constitutional amendment to lower the age.

Protest leader, Samson Itodo, said they needed a two-thirds majority in the senate and the House of Representatives to vote in their favour.

“For us, we are saying remove the age limit completely. If you are eligible to vote, you should be eligible to run for office. That is full franchise. But what we currently enjoy is partial franchise,” he told reporters

Itodo said Nigeria had a “youthful population” so it was crucial young people were more involved in the political process.

Another member of the NotTooYoungToRun group, Hamzat Zlawal, said the campaign was about equal opportunity and improving good governance.

“If they (lawmakers) don’t vote today, let us sleep at the National Assembly so that they know that we are serious that young people count. We must ensure that this legislation sees the light of the day,” he added.

Senator Dino Melaye, who addressed the protesters, promised them the issue had been given careful attention.

“There is already a proposal that will be debated between today and tomorrow in the National Assembly in the ongoing constitutional amendment.

“The age qualification for the presidency has been reduced from 40 to 35 while the ages for state governorship has been reduced from 35 to 30.

“House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly have been reduced from 30 to 25. This is the proposal that we are going to debate,” he stated.

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