Bill seeking review of educational qualifications of president, governors pass second reading at Reps

The Bill seeking for the review of a minimum of a university degree for Nigerians willing to contest for the office of the nation’s President and state governors on Tuesday passed second reading at House of Representatives

The Bill being sponsored by Rep. Adewunmi Onanuga (APC, Ogun) is also proposing a minimum of the first degree for those wishing to contest for seats in the Senate, House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly.

The proposal is part of a bill to alter the provisions of the 1999 constitution to change educational qualifications for election into certain elective positions in the country

The bill which was unanimously adopted for the second reading has however been referred to the Adhoc committee on the review of the 1999 constitution for consideration.

The lawmaker pointed out t that the Bill was not targeted at stifling the interest of Nigerians in politics, but to help Nigerians prepare sufficiently for the humongous task of political leadership.

According to her, “as we have begun to see, the race for elective offices at both state and national levels have become increasingly competitive. While this is good as a tenet of universal suffrage, it can also be counterproductive if people who are not sufficiently prepared educationally, get into these elective offices.”

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She added that all the political offices affected by this amendment are very strategic, saying “the state legislators are important for making laws to govern the state in the interest of the people, the office of the governor is the highest political office in the state.

According to her, “the federal legislators are important for making laws in the interest of the nation, the office of the president is the highest political office in the land.

“If a managing director who holds an equally strategic position in a company within this country, cannot be employed without a university degree or its equivalent, why should the above political offices be held by people without a university degree or its equivalent?

“We all know that after a university degree or its equivalent in this country, comes the compulsory National Youth Service Corp, without which it would be difficult to get into any employment especially within the public sector.

“Invariably, by leaving the qualification of this political offices to remain at school certificate level, we are implying that the NYSC is not a requirement to hold political offices but it is a requirement to secure a job in the public sector.”

The lawmaker argued that the bill would reflect the premium this 9th Assembly places on the quality of education that interests our youths vis-à-vis their desired political ambitions; and it will, in turn, affect the quality of candidates who run for elective offices in this country.

According to her, ‘how do we place value on education if I say to my son who wants to be a doctor that he needs a university degree or its equivalent to achieve his dream and then say to my daughter who wants to be a President someday that she only needs to have a school certificate?

“In this present day, studying up to a university degree anywhere in the world would have afforded any individual certain other knowledge, skills and preparedness that cannot be gotten at a school certificate level.

“This is not say that only those with a University Degree can lead well, all we will be saying is that we will rather start from there, and I believe we can all agree that a university degree is a good place to benchmark the educational qualification into certain political offices. To agree otherwise will in the long run do our polity and youths a great disservice.

“The Bill, therefore, proposes to review upward to a minimum of university degree, the required educational qualification of some elective offices within the country.”