A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Segun Showunmi, has said proponents of “younger candidacy” cannot bully former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, out of the 2023 presidential race on account of age.
Showunmi, who was spokesman to Atiku as the PDP presidential candidate in 2019, expressed concern over the “fixation on age” as the only parameter, especially to the highest office in the land.
The PDP chieftain, in a statement, said there are some “silly assumptions that the presidency of Nigeria is a stone quarry where the occupant is expected to use Stone Age tools to chip mountains.”
His comment followed the position of Kassim Afegbua, another former Atiku spokesman, who advised the PDP to zone its presidential ticket to the South instead of considering the former vice president because of his age.
Showunmi noted that President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent to the “Not Too Young To Run Bill” did not say the elderly must die.
“When President Buhari signed the Not Too Young To Run bill on 31st of May 2018, it was a welcomed development as it lowered the age to give more access to those wanting to contest. I do not see any clause in it that says age is now a disease or an impediment to anyone aspiring to be anything in our country, Nigeria,” he said.
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