The National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN, on Friday demanded that the All Progressives Congress, APC, should choose renowned academic-businessman and philanthropist, Dr. Ibrahim Bello Dauda, as the vice presidential candidate of the party.
This is as the APC North Central Zone Youth leaders have urged the party to honour the declarations of the “Not Too Young To Run Act,” which President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law.
According to them, the party should nominate the foundation member from the president’s CPC to balance the ticket of the presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
NYCN, the country’s umbrella body for youth, said that Dauda’s choice would give APC robust mileage with Nigerian youths, who already felt alienated by other political parties that chose middle-aged and elderly candidates as their flag-bearers.
The resolution followed a Thursday all-night meeting of the NYCN executive held in Abuja.
“Our meeting was convened to caution the APC against making the mistake other political parties have so far made by neglecting the youths in their selection process for offices at the state and federal levels,” the group said in its communiqué.
Signatory to the communiqué, NYCN National President, Comrade Solomon Adodo, stressed that youth would have a sense of belonging in Nigerian politics and governance with a competent representative like Dauda emerging as the vice presidential candidate of APC from the Kanuri stock in Borno State.
The communiqué reads in part: “We as the umbrella body of Nigerian youth nationwide insist that Dr. Ibrahim Bello Dauda (El-Dabi), a towering intellectual and administrator having the much needed experience and exposure, be given this opportunity to represent our generation in order to facilitate the much-needed changes our country earnestly desires.
“We urge President Muhammadu Buhari to remember his promise to the youth. He must recall previous commitments he made about the youth stepping into governance in Nigeria. And it is in this regard that we request that the party should pick a very young, capable and ready Running Mate to complete the partnership between the generations of political players, in order to be assured of the total support of the youth.”
