The members of the House of Representatives have taken a new step in reviewing the 1999 Constitution as they consider reducing the age of eligibility to run for President and Governor in the country.

During the plenary session, the representatives passed the bill which seeks to amend the age qualification required of anyone who will contest to be President and Governor not to be older than 60 years at the time of contesting.

Proposing to amend Sections 131 and 177 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) the bill also seeks to raise the minimum educational qualification from a Senior Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSCE) to a bachelor’s degree from a University.

Sponsored by Ikeagwuonu Onyinye Ugochinyere, the legislation is titled “ “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Review the Requirements that Qualifies a Persons to be Elected as President and Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Governors and Deputy Governor of a State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and for Related Matters (HB.202)”, and is sponsored by

A part of the proposed bill states that “A person shall be qualified to the Office of the President if: he has been educated up to university level and has earned a bachelor’s degree in his chosen field of study”. Also, the new subsection stipulates that “he is not more than 60 years old at the time of vying for the Office of the President.”

Meanwhile, the process of adopting such an amendment of the constitution is long as it will pass through different committees of the National Assembly for organising of public hearing before the reconsideration bt the two chambers to determine the fate of the bill.

Subsequently, the Senate and the House of Representatives will harmonise their thoughts after all 36 states will also go through it for perusal. Thereafter, a two third of the states must agree to the bill before the assent of the president to make the bill a law.

While the assent of the bill could address the narrative of inclusivity of youth in critical position like the presidency in Nigeria, it should be noted that the current constitution allows a person who is a Nigerian citizen by birth to contest for the presidency; such a person must be 35 years old, and there is no specific limitation to the age at the advanced level. The current law also allows any candidate who is interested in becoming a Nigerian president to only possess at least school certificate level or its equivalent.

Recall that on Tuesday, the House of Representatives has passed a bill to an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered), to provide for special seats for the physically challenged persons in Nigeria’s federal, state, and local government areas, and legislative houses to the second reading.