PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has signed the age reduction bill, popularly known as the not-too-young-to-run bill, into law.
This was made known by Bashir Ahmad, Special Assistant to the president on new media, via twitter on Thursday.
“History is made, President @MBuhari has signed into law the #NotTooYoungToRun bill. Congratulations to all young men and women at @YIAGA and all the supporters of the movement,” the post read.
History is made, President @MBuhari has signed into law the #NotTooYoungToRun bill. Congratulations to all young men and women at @YIAGA and all the supporters of the movement. pic.twitter.com/YCbTTboqWd
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) May 31, 2018
Following the signing of the bill into law, the constitutional age requirement for the office of the President has been reduced from 40 to 35 years old.
Similarly the age requirement for the office of state governor, as well as the Senate automatically drops from 35 to 30 years, while a 25-year-old will now be eligible to run for a seat in state assemblies and the Federal House of Representatives.
A little over a fortnight ago, ICIR had predicted that President Buhari will likely sign the age reduction bill, taking into consideration happenings across Africa where young people as young as 22 won parliamentarian seats during general elections, defeating the so-called career politicians.
The article also noted that Buhari’s assent to the bill will be a kind of damage control for the President, following his gaffe at the Common Wealth Meeting of Head of Governments in the UK, where he insinuated that Nigerian youths were a lazy lot seeking for freebies.