Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Yoruba youths under the aegis of Afenifere for Collective Transformation (ACT) has written to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to redeem his pledge that he would handover to a youth as successor.
The letter, dated June 12, 2021, and copied to the vice president, Senate president, speaker of the House of Representatives, and All Progressives National Leader, among others, also asked the APC to reduce cost of expression of interest and nomination forms in order to allow the youth to afford it.
Reading the letter at a press conference held at the weekend in Abuja, the Director-General of the group, Tolu Ajayi, said handing over to youths in 2023 would serve as the only way to checkmate growing youthful unrest, restiveness and violence across the country.
He also chided those calling for zoning within the ruling party, saying that it is a fraud and an error which could exterminate merit.
” Come 29th of May 2023, a new president would emerge and now, Nigerian youths want not only the president but All Progressives Congress (APC) at large to not only support this ambition but also give us a credible youthful and young presidential to drive and champion this ambition for us.
“This candidate must have held the position of the governor of a state in the country or a sitting governor with age less than 50years old. Nigerian youths want a president that belongs to our generation whom we believe would understand us better.
“We understand that Nigerian youths have been abused, used, denied, rejected and labelled negatively by the elders of this country hence, our resolve to redeem ourselves and our image with a young president that would further affirm our God-given potential and ability in political leadership.
“Nigerian youths are tired of a series of certificate scandals and age falsification being perpetrated by our leaders all in the name of getting to political leadership by force.
“To this end, an educated and qualified young Nigerian whose credentials and age would not be hidden is who we want at the level of our presidency come 2023 for the principle of transparency. This we want the APC to give us.
” In other to make the dream of youthful and young leadership a reality in Nigeria across board, we implore the All Progressives Congress to reduce drastically the cost of expression of interest form and nomination form so that credible young Nigerians who made money in a legitimate means can afford to purchase the forms to contest under the platform of the party”, Ajayi said.
