Not Too Young To Run is an act of parliament, which sought to reduce the age limit of running for elective offices in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The campaign started in support of bills and motions in Nigeria's National Assembly sponsored by the Tony Nwulu in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and AbdulAziz Nyako in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The campaign is now global, symbolized by the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

#NotTooYoungToRun.

History of Not Too Young To Run bill

The Age Reduction Bill, popularly known as Not Too Young To Run bill, is a constitutional amendment movement led by young Nigerians. The bill was conceived and pushed by several civil society groups, including YIAGA Africa, beginning in May 2016. The group is headed by Samson Itodo, a human right activist and a good governance campaigner, who is AbdulAziz Nyako, the Executive Director of YIAGA Africa. The bill was sponsored in

by Tony Nwulu and in the

by AbdulAziz Nyako. The bill seeks alteration in sections 65, 106, 131, 177 of the

Constitution of Nigeria The Constitution of Nigeria is the written supreme law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria has had many constitutions. Its current form was enacted on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated the Fourth Nigerian Republic. History Nigeria's st ...

, which has reduce the age of running for elective positions for the house of Assembly and House of Representatives from 30 years old to 25 years old, Senate and Governorship from 35 year old to 30-year-old and office of the president from 40 to 30 and independent candidature in

Advocacies

On 20th of April 2018, the promoters of the bill had a meeting with the Vice President,

Yemi Osinbajo Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo (born 8 March 1957) is a Nigerian lawyer, professor, and politician who is the 14th and current Vice President of Nigeria since 2015. A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he previously served as Attorney Ge ...

to advocate for the Presidency to assent to the bill. After approval, the movement sought the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

for reduction in the nomination form fee, as it was N55 million before it was reduced to N45 million. But the movement want the fee to be reduced to encourage involvement of youths in politics. Earlier, about six political party had pledged incentives for the Not-Too-Young-To-Run movement to encourage participation of young Nigerians in politics.

Passage of Not Too Young To Run bill at Nigeria Parliaments

The

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

was first read at the House of Representatives and was passed with votes of (86-10) in the Senate on 26 July 2017, and 261-23 in the House of Representatives, on 27 July 2017. The bill passed first and second readings in

Nigerian Parliament The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a bicameral legislature established under section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution. It consists of a Senate with 109 members and a 360-member House of Representatives. The body, modeled ...

and was presented to Committee on Constitutional Review. For any

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

to become a law in Nigeria, the amendment also needs to be presented to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

of the 36 states of the federation, and not less than 24 states (two-third) are expected to vote Yes to the amendment. It was reported that the House of Assembly in 33

Nigerian states Nigeria is a federation of 36 states and 1 federal capital territory. Each of the 36 states is a semi-autonomous political unit that shares powers with the federal government as enumerated under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Niger ...

voted Yes, except

Zamfara Zamfara (Hausa: Jihar Zamfara Fula: Leydi Zamfara 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤶𞤢𞤥𞤬𞤢𞤪𞤢) is a state in northwestern Nigeria. The capital of Zamfara state is Gusau and its current Governor is Bello Matawalle. Until 1996, the area was ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

and

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

. The bill was rejected by

Taraba State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , ...

Assembly initially, but, was reversed after the group made a press release inaugurating the Taraba House of Assembly into the Hall of Shame. On 16th February 2018, the conveners gave the Nigerian Parliaments and their president 30days ultimatum to conclude the processes of passage and signing of the bill into law.

Assent to Not Too Young To Run bill by Nigeria's President

In April 2018, the

Nigerian Senate The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly of Nigeria. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's highest legislature, whose power is to make laws, is summarized in chapt ...

resolved to transmit the Not Too Young To Run bill to the

President of Nigeria The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Niger ...

. On 21st May 2018, 55 youth-led organizations gave President Buhari an 8-day ultimatum to assent to the bill. On 29th May 2018, the Nigerian President, Muhammadu

Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

, announced in his ' democracy day' national address that he planned to sign the bill into law. He subsequently signed the bill on 31st May 2018. On 31st May 2018,

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

signed the Not Too Young To Run bill into law.

Political Controversy

There was a controversy that the Not Too Young To Run bill was removed from the constitutional review report during the Nigerian constitutional review meeting.

References

External links

Videos

Full Video: Finally, President Muhammadu Buhari Signs Not Too Young To Run bill into Law

Not Too Young Bill Campaigners Seek Passage of Law Within 30 Days

President Buhari Signs Not Too Young To Run Bill into Law
{{Africa in topic, Elections in Elections in Nigeria Political organizations based in Nigeria Youth in Nigeria