President Muhammadu Buhari has advised youths to defer their campaign till after the 2019 general election.
Making the remark in Abuja in the presence of selected invited youths from the 36 states and Abuja shortly after signing Not-Too-Young-to-Run Bill into law, the president described the bill as a “landmark law.”
However, he said “you can aspire for president but please postpone your campaign till after 2019 election.”
He noted that the bill shows that the youth can achieve anything they conceive if they work hard at it.
“Your focus and contributions have now successfully increased the quality and maturity of Nigerian democracy and expanded the playing field for youth participation in politics.
“You, the young people of Nigeria, are now set to leave your mark on the political space, just as you have done over the decades in entrepreneurship, sports, art, media entertainment, technology, and several other fields,” he said.
The law is aimed at relaxing some of the stringent and discriminatory provisions of the constitution.
It would be recalled that the bill was passed by the national assembly in 2017 to alter Sections 65, 106, 131, 177 of the constitution.
The new law lowers the constitutional age limits for aspirants to presidential and legislative positions in the country, as clamoured for by majority of young Nigerians.
It reduces the age qualification for the office of the president from 40 years to 30 years; House of Representatives from 30 to 25; and State House of Assembly from 30 to 25.
However, the president in the bill presented to him for assent, there was no reduction in the age requirement for the office of senators and governors, indicating that age would still be left at 35 and hoped it will be looked after eventually.