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6 Recent Developments to Note on the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ Bill


By
Ayuk Kure

It will be remembered that in July 2017, Honourable Tony Chinedu Nwulu of the House of Representatives and Senator Abdul-Aziz Murtala Nyako of the Senate sponsored a bill in their respective legislative chambers for an Act to amend the provisions of sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. The bill which is otherwise known as the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ bill was immediately passed by the National Assembly in the same month and in compliance with Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended was forwarded to the States’ Houses of Assembly for approval before the Presidential assent. The bill seeks to reduce the age requirement for the office of the President from 40 to 30 years; Governor and Senate from 35 to 30 years and the House of Representatives and House of Assembly from 30 to 25 years. 

To ensure the speedy passage of the bill by at least two-third majority of the States’ Houses of Assembly, many youth movements swung into action to convince the law makers to okay the bill. The most prominent of those advocacy movements is the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) which launched and spearheads the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ campaign with the aim of ensuring the speedy passage of the bill and the realization of the aspirations of the youths in Nigeriaamd Africa in general. Since the launch of the campaign, YIAGA has registered a number of successes which has given the Nigerian youths hope that the rights of young persons to contest elective positions will soon be upheld. These have been the most recent developments with regard to the bill:

Formation of Youth-led Political Parties
Since the launch of the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign, there have been a growing number of political parties registered by youths. Between December, 2017 and January, 2018 INEC has approved the registration of not less than 22 new political parties bringing the total number of political parties in Nigeria to 68. Some of the parties recently registered include: Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) founded by, Mr. Tope Fasua, CEO of Global Analytics Consulting Limited; Progress Party founded by 29-year-old Onyeka Nwelue; Ordinary People’s Party led by Chris Nwokobia; Modern Democratic Party led by 27 –year-old Bukunyi Olateru-Olagbegi. Others include: All blending Party, Freedom and Justice Party, Socialist Party of Nigeria, Grassroot Development Party of Nigeria, Legacy Party of Nigeria etc. 

Growing Number of Young Aspirants
Recently, there has been a sudden reawakening among Nigerian youths to contest elected positions such as the office of the President, Governor, Senate and the National and States’ Houses of Assembly members. This reawakening is not unconnected with the activities of the #NotTooYoungToRun Campaign and the growing awareness of the roles youths can play in governance. Some of the young persons who have indicated interest to contest the office of the President in the 2019 include: Fela Durotoye, a Leadership Coach and motivational speaker; 36 years old Adamu Garba II, Founder of IPI Solutions Nigeria Limited; Ahmed Buhari, CEO of Skylar Inc.; the US based Chris Emejuru, CEO of Liberty Approach & Allied Consults; Yul Edochie, Anambra Gubernatorial candidate and Nollywood actor and Onike Chikeluba Lewis.  

The #NotTooYoungToRun Hall of Fame
Last year, when the bill was passed to the States’ Houses of Assembly for approval, the Ondo State House of Assembly became the first to pass the bill. It was closely followed by Adamawa, Kwara, Benue, Nasarawa, Delta, Enugu, Ekiti, Katsina, Yobe and Gombe states which all passed the bill in December, 2017.

The bill however met the historic threshold on Thursday, February 15, 2018 when Plateau and Anambra States’ Houses of Assembly completed the passage of the bill making it a total of 24 states required for the bill to become law. 

These states have since been inaugurated into the #NotTooYoungToRun Hall of Fame for voting in line with the aspirations of the Nigerian youths. It is to be noted that the bill is presently pending before the Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, Rivers, Bayelsa, Imo, Oyo, Osun, Edo, and Lagos States’ Houses of Assembly.

Taraba Makes a U-turn
It will be remembered that on December 20, 2017, the Taraba State House of Assembly voted against the Not Too Young To Run bill making it the first and only state so far to have refused to sanction the bill. At a recent, press conference, the officials of YIAGA urged Nigerians to vote out the 11 members which voted against the bill at the coming elections. In addition to this, the state was promptly inaugurated into the #NotTooYoungToRun Hall of Shame.

As a result of the public opprobrium that followed its decision to vote against the bill, the Taraba state House of Assembly sat on Monday, February 19, 2018 to reconsider its position. A statement on the official website of YIAGA reads: “The Taraba State House of Assembly has reverted its vote on Not Too Young To Run Bill. The House met Today Monday the 19th of February, 2018 and passed the age reduction bill, 22 members voted yes while 2 abstained. The Taraba State Assembly is hereby inaugurated into the #NotTooYoungToRun Hall of Fame.”

In another development, the Cross River State House of Assembly also passed the bill on February 19, 2018 making it a total of 27 states that have passed the bill.   

National Day of Action for Presidential Assent
Further, the YIAGA group has declared March 14, 2018 as the National Day of Action for Presidential Assent. On that date, every Nigerian citizen, the youths especially are expected to march en mass to the presidential villa to constructively engage with the president on the need to assent to the bill. By this singular act, the group hopes to mount more pressure on the presidency to ensure the aspirations of the youths in Nigeria are realized. 

All Eyes on President Buhari
Haven met the constitutional threshold; all eyes are now on the President. Will he assent or will he veto the bill? Assenting to the bill would mean that 30-year-olds can now contend with him for the highest office in Nigeria in 2019 and vetoing the bill would mean public condemnation and a “bye-bye” to the votes of the youths in 2019. What will be the President’s decision? YIAGA has pointed out very clearly that should the President refuse to sign the bill, the National Assembly should be prepared to veto the president’s assent  and so make the bill law even without his approval. From what it looks the bill will eventually sail through the Presidential assent. Or what do you think?

Sources:
yiaga.org
premiumtimesng.com
dailypost.ng

Image Credit: yiaga.org

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