2027 polls: Youth candidacy drops to 20% as Yiaga Africa kicks off bootcamp for young aspirants

By Cynthia Alo Eight years after the enactment of the Not Too Young to Run law, which lowered the minimum age for contesting some elective offices in Nigeria, Yiaga Africa has said that candidates under the age of 35 account for only about 20 per cent of candidates for the 2027 general elections. The figure, according to the organisation, represents a decline from 38 per cent in 2019 and 28 per cent in the 2023 general elections.

The organisation disclosed this in Lagos on Thursday at the Southwest regional edition of its “Ready to Run” boot camp for young political candidates, which will be replicated across six geopolitical zones under six weeks. The organisation, in collaboration with the African Governance Institute for Development, AGID, and other partners under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria, EU-SDGN, programme, said the boot camp is aimed at equipping young aspirants with the knowledge and skills required to contest and win elections.

Speaking at the event, Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, represented by the organisation’s Programme Coordinator, Ibrahim Farouk, said youth candidacy had declined despite the reduction of constitutional age barriers through the Not Too Young to Run legislation. He said: ” Since 2019, we’ve been supporting young people who are running for office, but especially for State Houses of Assembly and House of Representatives.

Young people who have competence, character, and who have what it takes. Unfortunately, youth candidacy in our elections has steadily been declining. In the 2019 general elections, youth candidates made up to 38% of candidates. But that dropped to about 28% in 2023 general elections. Unfortunately, it has dropped further to about 20%. Only about 20% of all the candidates released by INEC for the 2027 general elections are young people under the age of 35.

“What the data tells us is that if we have a lesser number of young people who are candidates, we’ll have a lesser number of young representatives in State Houses of Assembly and in the House of Representatives as well, which are the offices where it’s easier for young people to win.” In an interview with journalists, Farouk attributed the decline to the high cost of nomination forms and campaigns, as well as party structures and primary processes that push young people to the margins.

He said Yiaga Africa was working to dismantle these barriers through its Ready to Run initiative, electoral reform advocacy and capacity-building programmes. The organisation, he said, had supported more than 400 young candidates since 2018 to secure seats in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly but lamented that financial constraints and political structures continued to limit their chances.

Farouk urged young Nigerians to participate not only as candidates but also as voters, election observers and party agents, while warning that misinformation, deepfakes and other forms of technology-driven manipulation could threaten the credibility of the 2027 elections. Declaring the boot camp open, member of the House of Representatives, Kafilat Ogbara, urged young candidates to move from being a voting population to a decision-making population.

Speaking on the theme, “Transitioning from Aspirations to Representation,” Ogbara said young Nigerians must demonstrate their readiness to provide quality leadership rather than seek political offices simply because of their age. She warned that young people entering politics must not reproduce the failures of the older political order. The candidates, she said, must understand the Constitution, legislative processes, constituency engagement and campaign management, adding that they must translate their online political engagement into practical action.

Ogbara said: “Go there and deliver innovation where there is stagnation. Transparency where there has been secrecy. Accountability where there has been impunity. And creativity where there has been resistance to positive change. “The goal is not just to put young people in government, but to put good governance within the reach of the people. “Political parties must not be allowed to use your energy for campaigns and exclude your voices when decisions are made.” On his part, Founder of the African Governance Institute for Development and former member of the House of Representatives, Seyi Adisa, said young candidates needed adequate preparation, strategy and networks to compete effectively in elections.

Adisa said political success was not determined solely by financial resources, adding that young aspirants could build coalitions and social capital to overcome the financial advantage of older politicians. He, however, urged young people to demonstrate their value and capacity within political parties rather than assume that age alone entitled them to party tickets.

He said: “Elections are not won on election day. They are won months ahead when nobody sees, in the research, the str