THE INSIDER: Youthful Nigerians march to say they’re not too young to run
Young Nigerians march on their country’s parliament, calling for MPs to remove age barriers on political posts
Hundreds of young Nigerians marched on their country’s parliament on Tuesday, calling for MPs to remove age barriers on political posts, including the presidency. Nigeria’s 1999 constitution stipulates that the president has to be at least 40 years old, while senators and state governors have to be aged 35 or above. With an increasingly young demographic in Africa’s most populous nation and a majority of voters (55.4%) in the 18-to-35 age group, the restriction is seen as unfair. AFP reports that about 500 protesters, wearing white T-shirts and brandishing placards proclaiming #NotTooYoungToRun, marched to the National Assembly, where a sit-in is planned until MPs vote on a constitutional amendment to lower the age. The amendment proposes that the age qualification for the presidency be reduced to 35, the senate and state governorships to 30 and for election to the house of representatives and house of assembly, from 30 to 25. Protest leader Samson Itodo said a two-thirds majority i...
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