More than eight years after the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ Act of 2017 was signed into law, the promise of greater youth participation in Nigerian politics remains largely unfulfilled. SEYE OLUMIDE examines the barriers still limiting young Nigerians’ entry into political office

When young Nigerians launched the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ campaign in May 2016, their demand was straightforward: age should no longer be a constitutional barrier to political participation. The campaign eventually culminated in one of the most significant constitutional reforms affecting political participation in the Fourth Republic.

On May 31, 2018, former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Not Too Young To Run Bill into law, lowering the minimum age for presidential candidates from 40 to 35 and that for the House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly from 30 to 25.

The reform, however, stopped short of the campaign’s original ambition. The age threshold for governors and senators remained 35. Buhari himself acknowledged at the signing ceremony that the age limits for governors and senators had not been reduced as originally proposed.

Eight years after that constitutional change, as Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections, a different question is emerging: has removing the legal barrier to young Nigerians resulted in a younger political class?

The answer from the emerging candidate profile appears complicated.

“Not Too Young To Run” reform is not a separate law or a section of the Constitution bearing that title. It is contained in the Constitution (Fourth Alteration, No. 27) Act, 2017, which amended the constitutional provisions on age qualifications for certain elective offices.

Three principal provisions were affected. Section 65(1)(b) was amended to reduce the minimum age for election to the House of Representatives from 30 to 25 years, while the minimum age for the Senate remained 35.

Section 106(b) was amended to reduce the minimum age for membership of a State House of Assembly from 30 to 25 years.

Section 131(b) was amended to reduce the minimum age for election as President from 40 to 35 years.

Section 177(b), which deals with qualification for election as governor, was not amended by the reform. The minimum age for governor, therefore, remains 35, as does that for the Senate. Buhari acknowledged this limitation at the signing ceremony.

The current constitutional thresholds are therefore: President – 35; Governor – 35; Senator – 35; House of Representatives – 25; State House of Assembly – 25.

The distinction matters because the original campaign sought a more extensive reduction. The final amendment was a compromise: the presidential threshold was reduced by five years, as were those for the two legislative chambers, while the requirements for governors and senators remained unchanged.

The reform was therefore primarily an eligibility reform. It removed constitutional age barriers; it did not compel political parties to nominate young candidates, create youth quotas or guarantee access to political office.

That distinction is important in assessing the 2027 elections. The presence of older candidates on the ballot does not, by itself, amount to a breach of the reform. The more fundamental question is whether the constitutional opening created in 2018 has translated into meaningful political opportunities for younger Nigerians.

From campaign to constitutional reform
The roots of the campaign go back several years before the bill was finally signed.

Youth advocates had raised concerns about age restrictions during previous constitutional review exercises. But the campaign gathered momentum after the 2015 general elections, when activists and young aspirants increasingly questioned why a large youth population could participate as voters, but many could not legally contest for public office.

The movement was formally launched in 2016, with youth organisations, particularly YIAGA Africa, mobilising Nigerians around the demand for constitutional change.

Its central argument was encapsulated in the slogan: “If you are old enough to vote, you are old enough to run.”

The original proposal sought to reduce the presidential age from 40 to 30, the governorship and senatorial age from 35 to 30, and the House of Representatives and State House of Assembly age from 30 to 25.

Tony Nwulu sponsored the proposal in the House of Representatives, while Senator AbdulAziz Nyako replicated same in the Senate.

The National Assembly eventually passed the constitutional amendment in 2017. However, because it was a constitutional alteration, parliamentary approval alone was insufficient. The amendment also required approval by at least two-thirds of the state Houses of Assembly before it could reach the President.

Buhari eventually signed the amendment on May 31, 2018, describing it as a landmark achievement for youth political participation.

The 2027 test
That tension is now becoming evident as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 elections.

The reform has opened the constitutional door. A Nigerian who is 35 can now legally aspire to the presidency, while a 25-year-old can contest for the House of Representatives or State House of Assembly. But eligibility is different from access.

The 2027 presidential field provides an illustration. INEC’s final list contains 18 presidential candidates from 18 political parties. The list includes President Bola Tinubu, 74; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, 79; Peter Obi, 65; Donald Duke, 64; Sandy Onor, 60; and Oyo State Governor Oluseyi Makinde, 58. It also includes younger candidates, with one presidential candidate meeting the new constitutional minimum age of 35.

The figures do not suggest a violation of the 2018 reform. Rather, they illustrate its limits.

The Constitution guarantees eligibility; it does not guarantee political prominence, a party ticket or electoral success.

The presidential contest, therefore, provides a measure of the distance between constitutional inclusion and actual political renewal.

The governorship field presents another dimension. INEC has scheduled governorship elections in 28 states in 2027, excluding Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun because they are on different electoral cycles.

The emergence of established politicians in several of those contests also underscores the continuing influence of an older political generation. But their age is not, in itself, the issue.

The real question is whether younger Nigerians have acquired comparable access to the political structures through which candidates emerge.

The barriers beyond age
This takes the debate beyond the Constitution to the internal workings of Nigerian political parties.

The constitutional amendment changed the age barrier. It did not remove those other obstacles.

This is why the presence of a 35-year-old presidential candidate on the ballot cannot, on its own, be taken as evidence of generational renewal.

The more revealing questions are how many candidates below 40 secured the tickets of major parties; how many younger politicians in their 30s and early 40s are contesting governorships; how many survived the internal processes of the All Progressives Congress (APC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and others; and how many have moved from youth wings and campaign organisations into actual decision-making positions.

The democratic concern, therefore, is not that older politicians are contesting elections. It is whether younger Nigerians, although legally permitted to contest, have meaningful access to the parties, resources and networks required to compete.

That is where the 2027 election could provide a useful audit of the Not Too Young To Run experiment.

From eligibility to representation
The National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly provide an especially important test because the 2018 amendment lowered their minimum age to 25.

If young Nigerians remain largely absent from those chambers despite the constitutional opening, attention may need to shift from the Constitution to the mechanisms through which political parties recruit and nominate candidates.

Political parties remain the principal gateways to elective office. While the Constitution permits a 35-year-old to aspire to the presidency, party structures determine whether such an aspirant can secure a nomination and mount a viable campaign.

That distinction explains why the 2018 reform should not be judged simply by the number of young people who win elections.

Its immediate achievement was to establish constitutional eligibility. Its unfinished business is creating the conditions under which that eligibility can be exercised meaningfully.

The 2027 elections, therefore, present an opportunity to examine whether Nigeria has moved from youth participation as a constitutional promise to youth representation as a political reality.

There is evidence that the door is open. The presence of a 35-year-old presidential candidate on INEC’s final list demonstrates that the age barrier has been lowered.

But the wider political field suggests that established politicians continue to occupy much of the available political space.

That should not necessarily be framed as a failure of the Not Too Young To Run amendment. It may instead reveal the limits of legislation in changing a political culture shaped by party structures, campaign finance, political networks and incumbency.

The movement changed the constitutional question from “Are young Nigerians old enough to contest?” to a more difficult one: “What prevents them from competing effectively?”

That is the question the 2027 elections are now bringing into sharper focus.

Oyo State chairman of the African Action Congress (AAC), Kayode Bababunmi, said young Nigerians should also take responsibility for their limited participation, arguing that many know the political platforms that align with their interests but fail to build sustained relationships with them.

Bababunmi said frequent movement between parties without understanding their ideologies or investing in party structures could make it difficult for young aspirants to secure tickets, particularly when competing against candidates with stronger financial and political networks.

He said the 2027 candidate list showed that the legal opening had yet to produce a substantial generational shift, adding that restrictive party processes and weak political organisation remained obstacles to youth participation.

Executive Director of Journalists for Democratic Rights, Wale Adeoye, said the constitutional reform could not by itself transform youth participation because political power remained closely tied to access to wealth.

“In developed democracies, power is determined by the strength of the majority of voters. In Nigeria, the equation is determined by the distribution of wealth, which is skewed against the people, the majority who are poor and vulnerable,” he said.

Adeoye identified high nomination fees, delegate systems, campaign financing, entrenched party structures and established political networks as barriers confronting younger aspirants.

He, however, cautioned against treating age as a substitute for competence, saying young politicians must articulate clear programmes and demonstrate what they intend to do with political power.

“It is not just enough to talk about younger people taking over power. What is their philosophy? What do they stand for? What is their programme on health, transportation, poverty alleviation, security, education and others?” he asked.

Adeoye urged political parties to deliberately create space for younger aspirants, arguing that the age profile of candidates emerging for 2027 would be an important measure of whether the constitutional reform had translated into meaningful inclusion.

Human rights activist and member of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER), Popoola Ajayi, described the removal of constitutional age barriers as a major achievement but said monetisation remained a more significant obstacle to youth participation than age.

“The real issue is the over-monetisation of our electoral system, starting from the IBB era. Politics has become a huge political investment,” he said.

Ajayi called for greater internal democracy and transparency in candidate selection, urging young Nigerians to organise and challenge established political structures.

He also cautioned against reducing generational change to the replacement of older politicians with younger ones, saying younger aspirants must demonstrate the capacity to provide credible alternatives.

The reactions underline the central issue confronting the 2027 test of the Not Too Young To Run reform: Nigeria has removed age as a major constitutional barrier, but the cost, structure and culture of political competition remain largely intact.