By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
As the political activities smoulders ahead of 2023 general election, leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is considering free nomination forms from youths under 35 years across all positions.
This is even as the party has also been asked to amend it’s constitution to include that only youths within 18-35 years will be eligible to contest for the position of Youth Leader in all levels of the party administration.
This was part of an interim report submitted by the PDP National Reconciliation and Strategy Committee (NRSC) led by former President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki to the party’s leadership.
In a one-page letter dated March 25, 2021, signed by its chairman, Sen. Saraki and addressed to Prince Uche Secondus, the PDP national chairman, the committee, advised the National Working Committee (NWC) to immediately recommend to the National Executive Committee (NEC) that the party constitution be amended to the effect that “only persons not less than 18 years old and not more than 35 years can contest for the position of Youth Leader at all levels of the party structure – wards, local government, state and national”.
The committee explained that the recommendation was as a result of the meeting it held with the party’s National Youth Leader and other youth leaders across the 36 states of the nation on March 9th, 2021 “in furtherance of its mandate to resolve disputes, reconcile aggrieved members and foster cohesion and unity within the party”.
The measure is believed to be aimed at easing the burden of participation in the political process on the youths and encourage them to utilise the new constitutional provisions on the age requirements for political office holders, otherwise called the Not Too Young to Run Bill.
