Nigerian leader approves minimum age to aspire for president's office

ABUJA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday approved a minimum age to aspire for the president's office.

Buhari, 75, signed the "Not Too Young To Run Bill" into law at the State House in Abuja, allowing a citizen as young as 35 to run for the country's highest office.

The bill was passed by the National Assembly in July 2017 to alter some sections of the Constitution to reduce the age qualification for president from 40 to 35.

Buhari noted this was in fulfillment of the young people's aspiration to have unfettered involvement in the country's democracy and political development.

The new law also reduces the minimum age of citizens to aspire and become federal lawmakers from 30 to 25. This also applies to state lawmakers.

Buhari called on Nigeria's young people to be more enterprising and self-sustaining in taking over the political space.

Buhari, a former army general and military head of state, is running for a second term of office next year. Nigeria will hold its next general elections in February 2019. Enditem