President Muhammadu Buhari had his Democracy Day address to Nigerians today and he kept his biggest announcement for last and made it in a rather bland manner.

The President said: “In few days to come, I will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill.

Nonetheless, this will change the face of politics in Nigeria as it makes active participation in actual governance more open to the youths who make a sizeable proportion of the population.

Once assented to thereby becoming an Act, this new piece of legislation will ensure changes to some parts of Nigeria’s election provisions.

The effect of the bill in terms of age qualifications for elective offices are:

The age requirement for President is reduced from 40 to 30 years, that of Governor is reduced from 35 to 30 years and Senate is reduced from 35 to 30 years.

Meanwhile, the minimum age qualification for a seat in the House of Representatives and State Assemblies is reduced from 30 to 25 years.

This means we might see a lot of younger people holding public office in Nigeria from 2019 when the next general elections will be held.

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