The House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, on Wednesday hinted at the possibility of 30-years old being the qualification to become the president of Nigeria.
He said the move was contained in a new bill which targets to lower the age qualification for persons vying for political offices in Nigeria.
The bill generally tagged the “Not Too Young To Run Bill”, according to the Speaker had already passed second reading and has been referred to the Special Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
Dogara made this known in Abuja while speaking at the plenary of the Nigerian Youth Parliament, explaining that the objective of the bill was to ensure adequate representation to the youth who are 60 per cent of the country’s population.
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According to Dogara, the bill would amend Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the 1999 Constitution by simply lowering the age qualification bar.
If the bill makes it, the age qualification for the presidency, the Speaker said will drop from 40 to 30 years; Governor, 35 to 30 years; Senate, 35 to 30 years; House of Representatives and state House of Assembly, 30 to 25 years.
However, the amendment can only become law if it secures the concurrence of the Senate as well as garner the approved of a two-thirds majority (24) of the 36 state Houses of Assembly in line with the provision of Section 9 of the constitution.
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