BREAKING: Reps Pass Bill To Stop Tinubu, Atiku, Obi Others in 2027 For Second Reading

A bill seeking to bar persons above the age of 60 from contesting for president, governor, vice president, and deputy governor has passed second reading in the House of Representatives.

Sponsored by Rep Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, the bill is part of the proposed amendment to the 1999 Constitution on the review of eligibility criteria for the positions.

If passed and assented to by the president, the law would affect the eligibility of President Bola Tinubu, 73, Atiku Abubakar, 78, Peter Obi, 63, and others in their age categories for the 2027 presidential election.

The bill proposes changes to Section 131 of the Constitution to introduce a 60-year age limit for presidential candidates.

The age restriction will be captured in Section 177 of the constitution for the governorship category.

Similarly, potential aspirants for the presidential and governorship elections must have at least a first degree to qualify for elections.

In a related development, the Senate on Thursday slated for consideration a bill seeking to make it mandatory for all categories of elections to be conducted in one day.

Sponsored by Senator Salihu Mustapha (Kwara Central), the bill, if it scales all legislative requirements, will mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct all elections in a single day.

The categories of elections to be affected are the presidential, national assembly, governorship, and state assemblies.

A number of the senators, however, argued over the practicability of the bill, doubting the capacity of INEC to cope with the demand.

They pointed out the uneven terrain across many states, especially in the reverine areas where movement and distribution of electoral materials take many hours to accomplish.

Other senators also picked holes in the bill, pointing out that voters, especially those in rural areas, might not be able to cope with a high number of ballot papers at once.