Who wants to kill, the Not Too Young To Run?

Is the National Assembly seeking to scuttle the bill that may lower the ages of those interested to contest for political offices? The National Assembly had last year passed the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill, which would allow young Nigerians between 25 and 30 years to vie for political offices. However, the bill was conspicuously omitted from the list to be considered in the on-going constitution amendment process. Sponsored by Senator Abdulazeez Nyako (APC, Adamawa) and Rep Tony Nwulu (PDP, Lagos), in the Senate and the House of Representatives respectively, the bill was passed for second reading at the House of Representatives on June 8, 2016, while the Senate followed suit. Consequently, it was referred to the special ad-hoc committees for constitution review in both chambers, chaired by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and Deputy Speaker, Yussuf Suleimon Lasun, respectively. The bill seeks to amend Sections 131, 177, 65 and 106 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. The four sections deal with the age qualifications for the office of the president, governor, senator, House of Representatives and state assembly members. Section 131 of the constitution provides 40 years as age qualification for the office of the president, while Section 177 states that anybody vying for the office of governor must be at least 35 years of age. Similarly, Section 65 pegs the age limit for a person gunning for Senate at 35, while that of a House of Reps member is 30 years. The age qualification for a member of a state assembly is 30 as contained in Section 106. However, the amendment would see the age requirements for the offices of the president, governor and senate seat to 30, while that of House of Reps and state assembly members would be 25 years. The draft law was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Alter Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to reduce the Age Qualification for the Office of the President and Governor and Membership of the Senate and House of Representatives and for Other Related Matters.’ Nwulu had during the debate on the bill said youths in other parts of the world were allowed to contest for ‘big’ political offices, citing the United Kingdom, which he said reduced its minimum age for elective office from 21 to 18 years. “Many countries across the globe have called for a reduction in the age of candidacy. This demonstrates a growing international desire and demand among youths to participate in the democratic process as candidates,” he said. He cited several other countries, such as Venezuela, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Mexico, Germany and Denmark, which he said have lowered their age qualifications for elective offices to between 18 and 35 years. There is high-powered politics going on regarding the bill, which is already sending jitters to some political office holders. Our correspondent reports that none of the current 469 members of both the Senate and the House is less than 38 years. The youngest lawmaker among them all is Rep Abdulmalik Zubairu Bungudu (APC, Zamfara), who is 38 years. It was gathered that immediately after the introduction of the bill, majority of the lawmakers raised concerns that their seats would be taken over by young Nigerians in 2019. In fact, already, some lawmakers are facing stiff opposition from some young Nigerians in their constituencies. Already, members of the House are set to consider the report of the ad-hoc panel next week before proceeding on their annual recess, which is to last for over a month. Some of the lawmakers, it was further gathered, had approached the presiding officers on the bill, seeking an understanding to ‘kill’ it silently without allowing Nigerians to know. But Speaker Yakubu Dogara had at different fora assured that the bill would be included in the constitution amendment. Dogara told a group of Nigerian students during a dialogue in May last year, even before the second reading of the bill, that “I think it may not be out of place to lower the age qualification for certain elective offices in the next constitutional amendment. “The truth is that nothing will be ceded or conceded to your generation without a fight. In this endeavour, your voices mean nothing if you don’t have the votes. Therefore, all students in Nigeria must not only register to vote and cast their votes during elections, they must also ensure that their votes count. “I am aware that young people often find themselves on the fringes of the political process. We need to develop a structured manner of involving our students and youths in the political process,” the speaker had said. A year later, in May this year, Dogara said during a plenary session of the Nigerian Youth Parliament that the House was committed to passing the “Not Too Young to Run” bill to allow Nigerian youths to seek for political offices. “We committed ourselves in our legislative agenda to give priority to necessary legislative interventions to promote equality and inclusion and entrench the rights of women, youths and vulnerable groups in the society,” he said. But due to the omission of the bill from the constitution amendment process, a coalition of Nigerian youths, comprising over 80 civil society organizations, called the ‘#NotTooYoungtoRun# has threatened to initiate a recall process against all the members of the joint committee, comprising of at least two members from each state of the federation. The coalition is to also picket the National Assembly next Tuesday as well as hold a 1-million man match if their demands are not met. “The campaign is committed to mobilizing constituents to commence recall proceedings against members of the constitution review who voted against the pro-people amendment if our demands are not met. We will not hesitate to withdraw the youth vote for all the legislators who voted against the bill. “We call on the leadership of the National Assembly to fulfill its promise to the Nigerian youth and the international community by ensuring the inclusion of ‘Not Too Young To Run’ in the report of the constitution review committee and its passage at plenary. “We call on the on Nigerian youth to once again take leadership in holding our lawmakers accountable to us. Give your representatives a call, write to them, pay them a visit and demand the passage of the ‘Not Too Young To Run.’ “The campaign is also committed to using every means possible within the ambit of the law, to make our voices heard until the National Assembly accedes to our request,” the coalition said in a statement by Ibrahim Farouk. However, in reaction to the perceived omission of the bill, Lasun said during plenary on Thursday that the joint constitution amendment committee did not remove the bill from those to be considered. He said the bill was included but that the title has changed, which was why many thought it was omitted or deliberately removed. But the deputy speaker did not give the new title of the bill. At the same plenary, Dogara said the bill would be considered next week, saying the House would keep its promise to the Nigerian youths. As the lawmakers now await debate on the report of the ad-hoc panel, it remains to be seen under which name the bill will come up or it will end up being “killed.”