Comrade Obinna Nwaka, Director, Political and Democratic Matters, National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Not Too Young to Run to Bill in to law.
Nwaka, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said that by assenting to the bill, Buhari made history and demonstrated his commitment towards deepening democracy.
He, however, urged youths to take advantage of the bill and avoid abusing the privilege.
The bill which was signed on Thursday was passed by the National Assembly in July 2017 to alter Sections 65, 106, 131, 177 of the Constitution to reduce the age qualification for president, from 40 to 30; House of Representatives membership, from 30 to 25 and State House of Assembly membership, from 30 to 25.
Buhari, however, noted that the new bill did not tamper with the age qualifications for governor and the senate, which remained at 35.
Nwaka said that the president had during the 2018 Democracy Celebration live broadcast gave the assurance to accent the bill in order to assuage the yearnings and agitation of the youths.
The Nigerian youths both at home and in the Diaspora commend Mr President for giving us sense of belonging in ensuring he constitutionally empowers the youths in politics to enhance proper inclusiveness in governance and decision making.
While commending the president for assenting the bill which indeed will politically empower Nigerian youths, we also implore him to ensure he accent bills that will economically empowers the youths to avoid over reliance on Politics.
We commend Nigeria Youths for their patience, peaceful protests, coordination and resilience; we sincerely appreciate both the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly for supporting the bill.
We urge Nigeria Youths not to sell their mandates or abuse the privilege but to take advantage of the bill to develop themselves and contribute their own quota to development, he said.
Source: NAN