Former Senate Leader Ali Ndume has advised youths to take full advantage of the “Not too Young to Run Act’’ signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday to improve the nation’s democracy.
He gave the advice while addressing State House correspondents on Friday in Abuja.
According to Ndume, the Act is an achievement for the young population as it has levelled the limit for contesting various offices in the country.
“I want to congratulate the Nigerian youths because I am one of the advocates of the ‘Not too Young to Run Bill’ and you have seen the support that we gave it at the National Assembly level.
“Just as nobody is too old to run, we feel that nobody should be too young to run either.
“I think this is a very commendable thing that the president did.
“Now the door is open to everybody to have the opportunity to contest; I think this is another very good positive development in the maturity of democracy in the country.
“I want to congratulate Nigerian youths and I want them to take advantage of that law to give their best and try their best to see that we have an improved democracy with more youths that will be vibrant in the system,’’ he said.Â
According to Ndume, the National Assembly has not performed up to expectation in the present dispensation.
He said it was wrong ab initio to view the three arms of government as independent; rather, they should have been seen as inter-dependent.
“There is supposed to be synergy, support and cooperation within the three arms of government.
“And to be honest, that has not been the case in the past three years; it has been very bumpy and it was unnecessary.
“The eighth National Assembly has not been smooth and has not been working closely with the executive,” he said.
Ndume said he would not blame the executive entirely for the frosty relationship because “it takes two to tango”.
“If somebody is wrong, you don’t go the wrong way because you will not get it right by that,” he said.Â
The former Senate Leader, however, said that the assessment was his personal view.
He added that since the ruling party had the majority in the National Assembly, the relationship ought to have been smoother than it had been.(NAN)
