New kids on the block: Meet the three newly elected political office holders who are in their twenties

The 2023 general election was marred with irregularities.

Voter apathy, voter suppression, violence and ballot snatching were characteristics of the polls that Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu promised was going to be the most credible in the nation's history.

The introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was supposed to be the game-changer, however, Nigerians have argued that haven't benefitted from the full functionality of the device due to technical challenges. The BVAS is an electronic device designed to read Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and authenticate voters.

While the controversy and the shocks of the elections continue, there are young Nigerians who have been elected to represent their people.

In this article, we take a look at the new-elected legislators who are in their twenties.

Muhammad Adamu Oyanki

25-year-old Muhammad Adamu Oyanki was declared the winner of the State House of Assembly election for Doma North Constituency on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after defeating incumbent state lawmaker, Musa Ibrahim.

Ibrahim's was one of the upsets in the just-concluded Governorship and State House of Assembly Election in the state.

At 25, he would be the youngest legislator in the 7th Nasarawa State House of Assembly in the coming weeks.

Oyanki was born on June 21, 1997, in Doma, the headquarters of Doma local government area of Nasarawa State.

Rasheed Kashamu

Rasheed Kashamu, the son of the late Senator Buruji Kashamu was declared the winner of the election in the Ijebu North Constituency 1 in Ogun State.

The 26-year-old candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 10,004 votes to defeat the incumbent member of the State Assembly, Sylvester Abiodun (a.k.a SLY) of the All Progressives Congress.

Kashamu will probably be the youngest House of Assembly Member in Ogun state in the dispensation.

Kashamu has a B.Sc in International Business and Management from Brunel University, London. He also has a Master of Science degree in International Finance and Investment from the University of Surrey.

He said that his legislative agenda is centered on youth empowerment, ICT, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. Our people are very industrious and are predominantly into agriculture, timbering and cow skin businesses.

Rukayat Shittu

26-year-old Rukayat Shittu won the Owode Onire state constituency of Asa Local Government Area in Kwara State House of Assembly election.

She contested on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

SaharaReporters reports that she polled 7,521 to defeat her rival in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 6,957 during Saturday’s election.

This feat makes her one of the youngest candidates in Nigeria to contest and win a political office.

She is a former Senate President of the Congress of NOUN Students (CONS) at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and a journalist, reports SaharaReporters.

Rukayat attended Baptist Primary School LGEA in Ilorin, and Government Girls Day Secondary School, Oko Erin to obtain her Senior Secondary School Certificate in 2011. She proceeded to Kwara State College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies affiliated with Bayero University Kano where she got a diploma certificate in Mass Communication and Islamic Studies in 2015.

After her diploma, she enrolled in a fashion school. In 2017, she was admitted to the National Open University of Nigeria and graduated in 2022.

She worked as the head of the news department for an online media outlet in Kwara, Just Event Online.