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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives, yesterday, stepped down a bill seeking to peg the maximum age for aspirants to the office of the president and vice president at 70 years.
The bill was withdrawn following the request of the sponsor, Bede Eke, to step it down, to enable him consult more on the proposed legislation.
The bill, which also proposed 65 years as maximum age for aspirants to the Senate and governorship, as well as 60 years for the House of Representatives, had generated controversy at the plenary, with several lawmakers kicking against it.
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The bill also proposed first degree or Higher National Diploma (HND) for aspirants to the office of president, vice president, governor and deputy governor.
Eke, in his lead debate, had stated that the bill, if passed into law, will strengthen the Not Too Young To Run Act, which lowered the age limit for seeking elective offices in the country. The lawmaker, who explained that the bill is not targeted at anyone, said the main intention is to create more opportunities for younger persons to be involved in the leadership of the country.
He said: “I am not retiring anybody. This bill is a buffer to the Not Too Young to Run Act, which the 8th Assembly passed. You cannot talk about the Not Too Young to Run Act, when the ageing politicians are still occupying the spaces and there is no space for the youths to come on board.
“The bill will go a long way to confirm the age long saying that the ‘youths are leaders of tomorrow’. That is what we have been hearing for a long time and I will urge my colleagues to allow this bill, because it is not targeted at any anybody, but will give our youths the hope that they will be part of governance tomorrow.”
