Thousands of Nigerian youths gathered at the Unity Fountain in Abuja for the Not Too Young to Run National Day of Action march to solicit President Buhari’s assent for the Not Too Young to Run bill. The bill which gained majority support from the National Assembly and 35 State Houses of Assembly seeks to reduce the age qualification for running for elective office in Nigeria.
Young Nigerians, from all walks of life, representing different youth groups across geo-political zones, from Rivers, Bauchi, Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Ekiti, Imo, Plateau, Bornu, Kaduna, Enugu, etc, turned out in their numbers to demand for a youth inclusive government.
While calling on President Buhari to sign the #NotTooYoungToRun Bill, the group reminded President Buhari about his campaign promises to Nigerian youths in 2015. Young people at the march held up signs that read “Youth Inclusion is Youth Development” “Nothing for Us Without Us” as they made their way peacefully to Aso Villa.
The group also called on the National Assembly to finalize the harmonization of the constitutional amendment bills, which was submitted to them by the State Assemblies more than a week ago and transmit the amendment bills to the President for his assent. The group stressed that failure to transmit the Not Too Young to Run bill to President Buhari for his timely assent will disenfranchise young Nigerians who are eagerly waiting for the outcome of the bill to commence their campaign process.
Speaking at the rally, Executive Director of YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo called on young Nigerians nationwide to go out en-masse to collect their permanent voter’s card so that they can fully participate in the electoral process in 2019.
At about 3:30pm the Minister for Aviation Mr. Hadi Sirika came out from the Federal Executive Council meeting to address the youths who had been waiting patiently irrespective of the scorching heat of the sun. While speaking on behalf of the President, Mr. Sirika assured Nigerian youths that President Buhari will assent to the bill; “The President is a democrat, and if Nigerians have spoken he has no choice but to do the needful” he said. Mr. Sirika collected the letter addressed to the president and signed an acknowledgement copy as evidence of collection.
The group wishes to unequivocally state that the news on some media platforms, reporting that today’s march, was a protest to President Buhari’s Rejection of Electoral Act Amendment Bill is false. The Group wishes to reiterate that the purpose of the #NotTooYoungtoRun National Day of Action peaceful march was to call on the National Assembly to expedite action and transmit the constitutional amendment bill to reduce the age for elective office in Nigeria to President Muhammadu Buhari’s and for the President to assent to the bill in a timely manner.
The Not Too Young To Run movement further extends its gratitude to every single person who participated in this peaceful march. We thank the members of the media for their support and coverage of the peaceful rally. Today young people braced the scorching sun to demonstrate their support for the Not Too Young to Run Bill. They showed courage, resilience and enthusiasm for our democracy.