Minister of Youth Development Ayodele Olawande has told young Nigerians they will not need political connections, influential relatives or personal access to government officials to secure a place at the 2026 National Youth Confab.

Olawande said the 360 delegates expected to physically attend the conference in Abuja will be selected from young Nigerians who register through the official online portal, rather than being nominated by politicians.

“You don’t need to know me,” the minister said while addressing journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday.

He said neither he nor other political office holders would be allowed to handpick delegates, insisting that the process was deliberately designed to limit political interference.

Olawande also pushed back against concerns that the conference could become another avenue for political patronage ahead of the 2027 elections.

According to him, politicians should concentrate on politics while young Nigerians interested in the Confab should simply register and participate through the established process.

The minister said the government wanted credible young people to take part based on their interest and ideas rather than who they know.

The official Confab platform says the programme is primarily open to Nigerians aged 18 to 35, with organisers targeting equal representation of men and women while encouraging participation by persons with disabilities.

Registration is scheduled to close on September 20, while virtual engagements will run from October 5 to 21.

The physical conference in Abuja is scheduled for October 26 to 30.

But Olawande said the government's plan goes beyond simply gathering young Nigerians for another conference.

He said recommendations from the Confab would be separated according to the institutions responsible for implementing them.

Issues requiring executive action would be sent to the relevant government authorities, legislative proposals would go to the National Assembly, while recommendations involving the judiciary would be directed accordingly.

Olawande said the implementation process is expected to begin from November.

“Enough of documentation,” he said, arguing that the government did not want the outcome of the conference to end up as another report sitting on a shelf.

The National Youth Confab will focus on six major areas: governance and political participation, entrepreneurship and job creation, education and skills, technology and digital innovation, climate and energy, and security and social cohesion.

Olawande said the wider objective is to give young Nigerians a direct opportunity to bring forward their own ideas and proposed solutions to national problems.

The conference is one of the major youth-focused programmes being coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development under Olawande.

The official Confab platform describes the initiative as an attempt to move youth participation beyond consultation towards involvement in policy development and implementation.

For Olawande, however, one of the first tests will be whether the selection process lives up to his promise that a young Nigerian should not need to know the minister, a politician or anyone in government before getting an opportunity to participate.