Before voting, Nigerians should mandate that presidential candidates appoint 40% of young people into ministerial and other top government positions, according to a coalition of young presidential candidates and former aspirants.
The charge was made at a forum on Wednesday in Abuja, where many of the candidates demanded that the All Progressives Congress’ Bola Tinubu, the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar sign a social contract promising to actively engage youths if elected.
The development occurs 86 days before the 2023 presidential election is scheduled to take place.
Nicolas Felix, the youngest candidate for president in the APC, said during his speech that the coalition’s goal was not to advance its own interests.
He said, “This election is very crucial because Nigeria is in need of serious fixing. This is why I am championing the cause for at least 40 per cent of young Nigerians to get into government, whether by election or by appointment, for us to fix our country.
“We want youths as governors, ministers, heads of parastatals, lawmakers in state assemblies and local government chairmen.
“The 2023 presidential election is one many of us had hoped to participate in. Who will win the ballot? We may not be able to say for certain. But what is visible to all is that so far, the odds seem to be in favour of three leading candidates and come May 29, one of them will take over from President Muhammadu Buhari”
Erastus Anslem, a former presidential candidate and current senatorial candidate for the Labour Party, echoed his views when he revealed that the group had agreed to slam a charter of demands for youth inclusion in governance on the three top political candidates.
“The percentage we are demanding is 40%. The youths constitute over 70 per cent of the voting population in Nigeria. Ideally, if we all come out to vote, we shouldn’t be having anything less than 50 to 60 million votes
“But we cannot continue to deliver this magnitude of votes without attendant reward. The reward should be for good governance, not what to put in our pockets. We are looking at a day, probably in January where presidential candidates are going to sign with us. It is going to be a social path, even though we know only one person will win,” he said.
Ahmed Buhari, the vice presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Dr. Awwal Aliyu, the director general of the APC States Assembly, Dagogo Fubara, Moses Atibiowu, the flag bearer of the National Unity Party for the 2019 presidential election, and Omoyele Sowore, who was in attendance, were among the other political figures who attended the forum.