Young activists in Nigeria have started a campaign called “Ready To Run” to encourage younger people to stand in elections.
This follows the successful passing of the “Not Too Young To Run” bill into law, signed by President Buhari in May.
The new law reduces the age restriction for presidential aspirants from 40 to 30 years, while that of gubernatorial aspirants has been cut from 35 to 30 years.
The lower age cap for senatorial aspirants has been cut from 35 to 30 years, while that of the House of Representatives membership and State House of Assembly membership both reduced from 30 to 25 years.
Statistics show that 63% of the 180 million people in Nigeria are below the age of 35 years old.
Until now, many of them could not participate in governance because of the strict age limit that barred the youth from running for political office.
The West African nation is scheduled to hold its presidential election in February 2019, one which President Buhari has declared he will run in, seeking a second term in power.
