British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the NotTooYoungTorun bill into law as soon as it is transmitted to him by the National Assembly.

Mr Arkwright made the request on Saturday, barely 24 hours after the #NotTooYoungToRun movement issued 30-day ultimatum to State Assemblies, National Assembly and the Executive to conclude the ongoing constitutional amendments process. While congratulating the movement on the historic passage of the bill in over 24 states as constitutionally required by law, he said the next step is young people especially women to present themselves as candidates.

Mr. Arkwright passed the message via his official twitter handle, tweeting: “I am delighted at this excellent news and congratulate the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign. I urge @Mbuhari to gibe assent as soon as possible. Next step is young people (especially women) to present themselves as candidates”.

The High Commissioner, who has always publicly declared support for the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign, is of the belief that it is important that the voice of young people in Nigeria is heard loud and clear.

The bill was first passed by the National Assembly in a historic vote in July 2017. The bill seeks to reduce the age for running for elective office in Nigeria. Once the President assents, the bill becomes law making it possible for young people to run for office in 2019.

The NotTooYoungToRun movement is an amalgam of youth and civil society groups advocating for the reduction of age for running for elective offices to mainstream young men and women in electoral politics. NotTooYoungToRun is Nigeria’s largest and most successful youth movement in recent times. The movement is driven by the compelling need to restructure the country’s political system to address the deeply entrenched system of political exclusion and institute inclusive politics, transformative leadership and electoral competitiveness in the electoral process.