Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose on Friday commended the National Assembly for its passage of the bill to reduce the age limits for elective positions in the country.
Fayose, in a statement by Mr Lere Olayinka, his Special Assistant on New Media and Public Communication, however, called for total removal of any age barrier to electoral contests.
“If a Nigerian, who is 18 years can vote, such a person should also be qualified to be voted for. The electorate, not the law, should determine his fate.
“Age is not a barrier to intellectual capability. Many countries have been successfully led by young people. General Yakubu Gowon became Head of State at 32,” he said.
The governor, who assured Nigerians that the Ekiti State House of Assembly would endorse the bill when presented to it, called on other States Houses of Assembly to endorse it.
“There is no nation that can develop without giving its youths opportunity to serve. There is nothing wrong in a 30-year-old contesting for the Presidency. We must give the youths the opportunities early enough because the future belongs to them.”
He said that the Ekiti government was already putting the provisions of the bill into practise by insisting that candidates seeking to be local government councilors must be between the ages of 18 and 40.
Fayose reiterated his resolve to enforce the age limit for local government positions, saying that the National Assembly had reinforced his position on that.
“The future belongs to the youths; they should be given prominent roles in structuring that future,” he said.