Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has commissioned the youth arm of the All Progressives Congress to recruit millions of Nigerian youths ahead of the 2023 general elections.

“So, the next hard work now is how to get the younger people in our communities, in our society into this party and to see themselves as part of this party, in their hundreds of thousands, in their millions, that is the next thing to do.”

Mr Osinbajo made this call in a meeting with the APC National Youth Lobby Group, according to a statement by his media aide Laolu Akande.

The vice president expressed worry that the next APC presidential candidate would not be as popular as incumbent Muhammadu Buhari.

“Today, the APC can win elections. Why not? We have a very popular president who can control significant votes. We have partners everywhere,” claimed Mr Osinbajo. “Whereas, in the coming years, when we do not have such a political leader who is as popular as the president, you are going to need to do the hard work. We can’t assume that the votes will all come in.”

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission voter register in 2019, 42,938,458 youths between 18 and 35 constitute 51.11 per cent of total voters.

Under Mr Buhari’s regime, youth unemployment in Nigeria has risen fivefold from 6.4 per cent in 2010, hitting 33.3 per cent as of the last quarter of 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.