Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has accused President Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to appropriate the bill.

The opposition party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan claimed the president did not make any input or showed support for the bill, noting that he was compelled to perform a statutory duty of giving assent to the bill after it had gotten the constitutionally required two-third votes in both the National and state assembly.

The party described the new law, which reduces the age for seeking election into various positions in the country as a “democratic” victory for Nigerian youths.

“This development is indeed a democratic victory for the Nigerian youths over forces, particularly, the APC that had hitherto disdained and disregarded them as lazy and inconsequential but had to succumbed to the dictates of the law and pressure by the youths and the PDP.

“The party commends the sponsor of the bill, Tony Nwulu (PDP, Lagos) and the resilience of the Nigerians youths in getting the initiative through, in line with the vision of the PDP to allow younger Nigerians to actively participate in elective positions in governance at all levels.

“In preparation for the passage of the bill, the PDP had since launched our ‘Generation Next Movement’, which has already put younger Nigerians at vantage positions to participate in elective positions ahead of the 2019 general elections. In line with the ‘Generation Next Movement’, the rebranded PDP among other pro-youth incentives, has since approved certain critical clauses and waivers so that the young people will actively vie for positions in the 2019 general elections.”