President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday signed the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ Bill into law.
President Buhari assented to the bill at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The Personal Assistant to the President on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, posted two videos on Twitter which shows President Buhari signing the bill into law.
Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu has therefore lauded the president for signing the Bill into an Act, but urged him to sign other Bills awaiting his signature into law.
Buhari, thereafter addressed the gathering in a speech…
The President said: “Your focus and contributions have now successfully increased the quality and maturity of Nigerian democracy and expanded the playing field for youth participation in politics.
“You, the young people of Nigeria, are now set to leave your mark on the political space, just as you have done over the decades in entrepreneurship, sports, art, media entertainment, technology, and several other fields.”
President Buhari had promised to assent to the bill while addressing the nation on Tuesday in a live broadcast in Abuja.
“In (a) few days to come, I will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ bill,” he had said in his Democracy Day’s speech.
Both Senate and the House of Representatives had passed the bill in 2017.
It later received the constitutionally required approval of two-thirds of National Assembly, leaving the final step of presidential assent.
‘Not Too Young To Run’ bill seeks a reduction in the age limit for presidential candidates from 40 to 35, as well as state governors and senators from 35 to 30.
Following the President’s approval, the minimum age for national and state assembly members will now be 25.
The primary aim of the bill is to increase the participation of young people in politics, as more than half of the nation’s population is below age 30.
Meanwhile, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has commended President Buhari for assenting to the Bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the Constitution to reduce the age qualification for some political offices, saying that the National Assembly had delivered on its promise.
Ekweremadu, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said the new amendment to the Constitution would open up the political space for the Nigerian youth, urging them to capitalise on it to take their proper place in the scheme of things.
He, however, urged President Buhari to also attend to other Constitution Amendment Bills awaiting his assent, describing them as critical to the good governance of the nation.
He said: “I am happy for the Nigerian youth and congratulate them on this new vista of political relevance and attainments.
“We have delivered on our promise and it is my hope that the youth will capitalise on it to take their rightful place in the governance of the country. As I have always maintained, today, not tomorrow, belongs to the youth. It is theirs to organise and mobilise to take it.
“I commend President Muhammadu Buhari for assenting to the Bill to motivate our youth to start preparations for the 2019 elections. However, I equally urge him to assent to the remaining Bills already transmitted to him, including the Bill seeking financial autonomy for State Houses of Assembly.”
Ekweremadu assured that the National Assembly would continue to make laws that would deepen the nation’s democracy and promote good governance.