Following a clarion call by the youth during the 2021 African Governance Architecture (AGA) Regional Youth Consultations, the AGA under the auspices of the AGA Youth Engagement Strategy spearheaded the development of a Comprehensive Guide and Facilitator and Participants Manuals on Youth Participation in Political and Electoral Processes in Africa. The Guide and accompanying Manuals were developed in collaboration with the Common Market for East and Southern Africa Secretariat (COMESA) with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation- SDC. The manuals underwent a painstaking research, review, and validation process with the full involvement of youth leaders and experts across the five regions of the continent.
Youth Candidacy in Nigeria’s 2023 Elections
In the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct elections in 176,846 polling units for elections into the office of the President, Governors, National Assembly, and State House of Assembly seats. Eighteen political parties nominated a total of 15,336 candidates for the one Presidential, 28 governorship elections, 469 legislative seats in the National Assembly, and 993 legislative seats in the State Houses of Assembly. According to the African Youth Charter, youths are classified as persons between the ages of 18 – and 35 years. The National Youth Policy defines 15 – 29 as the youth age bracket for Nigeria.