Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, may be forced to abandon his presidential bid in 2023 as the House of Representatives moves to raise the minimum educational qualification for candidates.
Citizens with educational qualifications lower than the university degree will be barred from running for federal and state legislature and governorship seats, as contained in the bill.
The bill, sponsored by Oriyomi Onanuga, seeks to amend sections 66, 106, 131, and 171 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
If the bill is passed into law, will demand that lawmakers, governors, and presidents possess a minimum qualification of a Bachelor’s degree, a Higher National Diploma, Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), and other degree equivalent certificates.
It is no longer news that several politicians in Nigeria, including President Muhammadu Buhari, use secondary school or primary school certificates to run for office.
The bill before the house of reps is coming at the time top politicians are declaring their interest to succeed President Buhari in 2023.
Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had in the last general election presented only a Diploma certificate as his highest qualification.
The Adamawa State-born politician is believed to be interested in running for president in 2023.
Omoyele Sowore, an activist and previous African Action Congress (AAC) candidate, is also on the list.
According to Naija News, Sowore presented a Senior Secondary School Certificate, WAEC, as his highest qualification in the last election.
The House debated the general principle of the bill on Tuesday and passed it for second reading. The bill was then sent to the Committee on Constitutional Amendment.
