Political Briefs
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THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and KOWA Party have urged the members of the National Assembly to support the Age Qualification Bill. The bill is seeking to lower the constitutional age requirement needed to contest elections in the country.
Specifically, the bill seeks to reduce the age qualification for presidential and governorship candidates to 30 years, and 25 years for the House of Representatives and senatorial candidates. Speaking about the bill, which passed the second reading on Wednesday, June 8, Ibrahim Jalo, deputy national publicity secretary, PDP, said it was the right step to encourage more youths to contest elective posts.
Jalo said if the lawmakers failed to address the cost of nomination forms by political parties, the bill would be a wasted effort. “The bill is a good development but without also addressing the high cost of nomination forms, it would be a wasted effort. There are over 142 universities in Nigeria which churn out graduates every year. If they are given the chance to contest at a young age, it is good for the country’s democracy.
“It is not so good that many older ones continue to contest the National Assembly seats for more than two or three times. The youths should be given a chance. The bill must address the question of the huge financial cost involved in contesting elections.
“How many youths can afford the millions of naira required to obtain their parties’ nomination forms? The forms should be affordable. Therefore, the bill would be a mockery of the system and a wasted effort if it failed to address this issue.”
In a statement released by Jude Feranmi, National Youth Leader, KOWA Party, on Thursday, June 9, the party said the age qualification bill would address the marginalisation of Nigerian youths in politics and make the political system more democratic. The party said, “KOWA Party believes that the inclusion of youths in formal politics is important for any nation that wants to move from the rat race to the jet race.”
— Jun 20, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT
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