TheCable

Dayo Israel, national youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says he will advocate for consensus opportunities for young persons seeking to contest in the 2023 elections.

Speaking with journalists on Friday at the APC national secretariat in Abuja, Israel said he would also work towards ensuring that the party creates a “fair-playing field” for young aspirants in the party.

“We are going to lobby for young people to get consensus opportunities during primaries and to get a fair-playing field for young people, because they are the heartbeat of the APC,” he said.

“We are the ones that go out there to mobilise. We are the agents on election day. We are the ones that go around to make sure things are working for the party. We are the foot soldiers and we deserve that reward.”

He said the party’s decision to give 50 percent discount to aspirants under 40 years would motivate youths to participate in the general election.

“We know that our youths want more, but we are grateful for the fact that we are not where we used to be,” Israel said.

“The fact that for the first time, we have been able to secure 50 percent discount for young people — 40 years and below — our youths can now have more relief as they compete with others on the field during the 2023 general election.

“And we believe very strongly that this is going to be a great motivator and booster. We know that this is not going to be the only thing we are going to do.

“We are going ahead to lobby the governors, the state chairmen and all other stakeholders in the party to help create an enabling field for our young people. We are going to lobby for young people on the presidential campaign council. We are going to lobby for young people on the campaign councils for the Osun and Ekiti governorship elections.”