Ex-Imo SSG, Onyeagocha slams youth group for negotiating age to contest elections with National Assembly

A former Secretary to the Imo State Government, Uche Onyeagocha, has condemned the “Not Too Young to Run” movement for negotiating the age to contest for elections in Nigeria with the National Assembly.

Onyeagocha, who was one of the guest speakers at the Ripples Nigeria Dialogue held on Wednesday in Lagos, said everyone who had attained the age of 18 years was qualified to vie for elective positions in the country.

He said: “Why should you go and start negotiating age with them? You didn’t have the right to ask for that because you excluded other ones whose ages you should have carried along. So you need to go and rethink what you did.

“Go back to the National Assembly and insist that everyone who has the right to vote from the age of 18 has the right to run for every position in Nigeria including the post of the president.”

The former federal lawmaker also slammed the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, for walking out with other lawmakers during the debate on the electronic transmission of election results.

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Onyeagocha added: “I was in the opposition when I was in the House of Representatives. I didn’t even have the privilege of PDP opposition. I went to the House of Representatives with APGA. There were just three of us and one of us came from PDP and was more pro-PDP.

“If there is a fundamental issue in the House of which you should disagree very fundamentally you don’t walk out, if you walk out they vote in its favor and mark it off.

“When you were angry, you should have stayed in the House picked the mace, and held it down. Who told you, you could walk away? Because it was convenient for you? Go back and get that electronic transmission of election results inserted.

“Nobody elected you to walk out when critical decisions are taken. That is wrong and it must not reoccur. That is the time to fight. You draw a stone at Gbajabiamila. You hold the House down.”

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