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19 States Yet To Pass Not-Too-Young To- Run Bill – Group

The “Not-Too-Young-to-Run’’ Movement, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), yesterday said that 16 states were yet to pass the “Not-Too-Young to Run Bill.”
One of the Conveners of the group, Mr Samson Itodo, made this known while addressing newsmen in Abuja.
According to Itodo, the group is a movement of youths and civil society groups advocating for the reduction of age to run for elective offices.
He said that the essence of the Bill was to mainstream youths in electoral politics.
“Since the bill was transmitted to the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly along with other constitutional amendment bills, at least 16 states have passed the bill.
“You will recall that in December 2017, the National Assembly transmitted 15 constitutional amendment bills to the states for passage.
“The Ondo State House of Assembly became the first state assembly to pass the Not-Too-Young-to-Run (age reduction) Bill, followed by Adamawa, Kwara, Benue, Borno, Delta, Enugu, Ekiti, Katsina, Yobe and Gombe state assemblies.
“In January 2018, the Kogi State House of Assembly passed it, while in February 2018, the Bauchi, Jigawa and Ebonyi states also joined in passing the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill.’’
Itodo said that the passage of the bill was a demonstration of the state’s commitment to the tenets of representative democracy.
He said that the movement would like to register its disappointment with the Taraba State House of Assembly for voting against the age reduction bill.
“On December 20, 2017, 11 members of the House voted against the bill making it impossible for the house to pass the bill.’’
Itodo said that it was unfortunate that majority members of states’ Houses of Assembly voted against the will of the people of Taraba despite assurances of its passage by the entire house.
He also commended the House of Representatives for passing an amendment to Section 85 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.
This, he said was to compel political parties to ensure that the position of youth leaders must be occupied by persons between the age of 18 and 35 years.
Itodo said that the amendment was in tandem with the philosophy of Not-Too-Young-to-Run.
“We urge the National Assembly to expedite action on concluding all electoral and constitutional amendments as the 2019 elections are less than 373 days away.
“According to Section 9 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), a constitutional amendment requires approval by at least 24 states’ Houses of Assembly.
“The Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill needs at least eight more states to meet this constitutional threshold.
“The movement uses this opportunity to call on the 19 states’ Houses of Assembly that are yet to pass the bill to emulate their colleagues by voting YES for the bill.
“An affirmative Vote for the bill will be another historic step to secure the future of youths and indeed the next generation.”
News
FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
News
FAAC Disburses N2.225trn For August, Highest In Nigeria

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
News
KenPoly Governing Council Decries Inadequate Power Supply, Poor Infrastructure On Campus
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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