The constitution alteration, otherwise known as, ‘Not too Young to Run Bill’, recently signed into law, by President Muhammadu Buhari, has been interpreted as a cup of appeasement, after his snide remarks few weeks ago that our youths are hooked on, to freebies. Regardless of the motive, young persons who want to go into politics early in life, now has a chance to kick-start their journey, earlier than was allowed by law, prior to the enactment.
Like Oliver Twist, the youths are asking for a further reduction in the age for senatorial and gubernatorial candidacy, which the law makers did not tinker with, as they did for the president, House of Representatives and House of Assembly. At 35 years, a person otherwise qualified, can run for the office of the president, while at 25 years, one can run for the House of Representatives or the state House of Assembly. Strangely, the promoters of the new law did not push for a change, of the abysmal requirement of mere secondary school certificate, as the qualification to run for these exalted position.
The pressure groups asking for a further amendment, should also seek the enhancement of the basic qualification for any of the named offices, to minimum of university education, or its equivalent. In pushing for supplementary amendment, they need to appreciate that the age at which one can run for the senate and the president should be the same, so as to avoid a constitutional crisis, considering that the senate president is constitutionally empowered to act as president, where the president and the vice president are incapacitated at the same time.
Section 146(1) of the 1999 constitution as amended, provides: “The vice president shall hold the office of president if the office of the president becomes vacant by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the president from office for any other reason in accordance with section 143 or 144 of this constitution.” Of note, by implication a president should not nominate as a vice presidential candidate, a person below the new age, otherwise such a person will not be able to act, should a vacancy occur under the circumstances enumerated above.
The provision which makes it, somewhat mandatory, that the age at which one can run for the office of the president and the senate should be same, is Section 146(2), which provides: “Where any vacancy occurs in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1) of this section during a period when the office of the vice president is also vacant, the president of the senate shall hold the office of president for a period of not more than three months, during which there shall be an election of a new president, who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office.”
But while the National Assembly presumably took into consideration section 146 of the constitution, it appeared they ignored section 191, in retaining the age at which one can run as governor, which currently is 35 years, as provided in section 177(b) of the constitution, while tinkering with that of the House of Assembly. Of note, section 191(1) provides: “The deputy governor of a state shall hold the office of governor of the state if the office of governor becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or removal of the governor from office for any other reason in accordance with section 188 or 189 of this constitution.”
Again by implication, the age at which one can run for the office of the deputy governor and the governor must necessary be the same, so that if the circumstances mentioned in section 191(1) occur, a state will not be thrown into constitutional crisis, where the deputy governor is less than 35 years, allowed by the constitution. There is however a challenge posed by the new law, with the provision of 25 years of age, to be eligible for the state House of Assembly, considering the provision of section 191(2) of the constitution.
That section provides: “Where any vacancy occurs in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1) of this section during a period when the office of deputy governor of the state is also vacant, the speaker of the House of Assembly of the state shall hold the office of governor of the state for a period of not more than three months, during which there shall be an election of a new governor of the state who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office.”
So, where a person who is 25 years, is elected as a member of the House of Assembly and subsequently the Speaker of the House, and a vacancy occurs in the circumstances envisaged by section 191(2) of the constitution as amended, would such a state not be thrown into turmoil, if the speaker is deemed unqualified to act as governor? Perhaps, instead of the discriminatory provisions on age limitation to run for the various offices, 25 years should be the national age attainment, to run for any of the political offices, just as 18 years is, for adult suffrage to vote!
But despite the challenges inherent in the amended law, one must give credit to the leaders of the movement, for inspiring the youths to rise up to their potentials. One of the greatest achievement of the movement, is the notice to our recalcitrant old men and women, who dominate the political scene; that the youths can mobilize to effect the much needed change, to propel our country to the next level. I had drawn inspiration for the title of this piece from one such young person, Rev.Fr. Derrick Eyram Senanau, a Ghanaian priest, who visited Nigeria recently.
In his inspirational book of less than 100 pages, titled: The Sun at Midnight: mediations on seven servants of God; he used seven spiritual leaders in the bible, namely: Jesus, Abraham, Joseph, Saul, David, Mary and Saul-Paul, to teach endurance, faith, hard work, and several other virtues, as we journey to our different destinations in life. Writing on the momentous submission of Mary, Mother of Jesus, to the will of God for her, without question, Fr. Senanu quoted St. Francis of Assisi, who wrote: “Start by doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you will find yourself doing the impossible.”
No doubt, the ‘Not too Young to Run Movement’, has done the necessary, and they are working to do the possible, by pushing political parties to give youths 50% of elective positions. If they are determined like the biblical figures, I have no doubt they will do the impossible – elect a young Nigerian president, strictly based on competence. The story of Joseph, placed in charge of Egypt at a critical period, could be a teacher for this new beginning.