The Nigerian senate on Wednesday passed the highly anticipated not too young to run bill, which seeks age reduction for elective offices in the country.
This was disclosed after an electronic vote in the senate showed that 86 senators were in support, while 10 were against and one of the lawmakers abstained.
Effectively, Nigerian youths can contest for president at the age of 35 and governor or senators at the age of 30 — away from the initial 40 and 35 years limit mandated by the constitution.
This bill goes on to stipulate that 25-year-olds can now legislate in the national and state assemblies across the country.
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For the bill to however take effect, it needs the endorsement of 24 state assemblies and presidential assent.
The bill seeks an alteration of sections 65, 106 and 131 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman human rights commission and a strong supporter of the bill, had said in Abuja on Tuesday that the future of the country is in the hands of the youth.
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He said the country could not afford to lose such legislation.
“We are in a country with thhe median age of 19 but people who want to save Nigeria’s unity have an average age of over 60,” Odinkalu had said.
“Who are they saving the country for? People are being invited across the country as leaders of thought, who are they thinking for? At our age, average age of the Nigerian youth given our life expectancy, we are already in the middle age and life expectancy for women is 51 and falling, for men, it’s 49 and falling.
“So, if you are in your 20s, you are in your middle age. People like me are already in injury time and people like us should be seeking to replace ourselves with the kind of people who are leading the Not Too Young to Run movement.
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“Because we are going to die and life expectancy is short, we must replace ourselves with better people, when I look at young Nigerians I’m reassured that this country has a future. That is one promising thing about us.”
Below are the 33 bills they considered and how they voted:
| BILL | YES | NO | REMARK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Members of the Council of States | 95 | NIL | Passed |
| Devolution of Power | 90 | 5 | Passed |
| Financial Autonomy of State Legislature | 90 | 5 | Passed |
| Distributable account for LG’s to have their own special account | 84 | 8 | Passed |
| Democratic Existence funding and tenure of LG council | 88 | 7 | Passed |
| State creation and boundary adjustment | 47 | 48 | Not Passed |
| Immunity for legislators for Acts in Course of Duty | 93 | 1 | Passed |
| Political Parties and Electoral Matters : Time to conduct Bye Elections and Power to deregister parties | 90 | 0 | Passed |
| Presidential Assent | 95 | 1 | Passed |
| Time frame for submission of names of ministerial nominees | 75 | 19 | Passed |
| Submission of Ministerial Nominees with their Portfolios | 78 | 16 | Passed |
| 35% affirmative action for women as ministers | 49 | 43 | Not Passed |
| Submission of Commissioners Nominees with their Portfolios | 84 | 7 | Passed |
| Submission of names of office of commissioners shall be attached with portfolio | 87 | 8 | Passed |
| 35% Affirmative action for women as States Commissioners | 61 | 35 | Passed |
| Authorization of expenditure | 93 | 1 | Passed |
| Appointment of Minister from the FCT | 77 | 12 | Passed |
| Change of names of some LG councils: Ebonyi, Oyo, Ogun, Pleateau and Rivers | 84 | 2 | Passed |
| Independent Candidacy | 82 | 5 | Passed |
| The Nigeria Police Force to become Nigerian Police | 87 | 2 | Passed |
| Restriction of the tenure of President and Governor | 88 | 0 | Passed |
| Separation of Office of the Accountant-General | 89 | 0 | Passed |
| Office of Auditor General to be included in first line chat of consolidated revenue | 95 | 0 | Passed |
| Separation of Office of the Attorney General from the Minister/Commissioner of Justice | 95 | 1 | Passed |
| Submissions from the Judiciary | 95 | 2 | Passed |
| Determination of pre-election matters | 97 | 0 | Passed |
| Consequential Amendment on Civil Defence | 97 | 0 | Passed |
| Citizenship and indigenship | 49 | 46 | Passed |
| Procedure for Overriding Presidential Veto in Constitutional Alteration | 87 | 4 | Passed |
| Removal of law making power from Executive Arm | 89 | 3 | Passed |
| Investment and Securities Tribunal | 76 | 14 | Passed |
| Reduction of Age for Election | 86 | 10 | Passed |
| Authorization of expenditure time frame for laying Appropriation bill, Passage etc | 94 | 0 | Passed |
| Deletion of NYSC decree from CFRN | 88 | 33 | Passed |
| Deletion of Public Complain Act from CFRN | 90 | 1 | Passed |
| Deletion of National Security Agencies from the CFRN | 92 | 2 | Passed |
| Deletion of land Use Act from CFRN | 46 | 44 | Passed |
| Deletion of State INEC from CFRN | 73 | 19 | Passed |
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