The presidential candidate of the Democratic Leadership Alliance, Moses Adebisi, has declared that he will become Nigeria’s youngest president if elected in the 2027 general election.

Adebisi, who said he is 35 years old and a Harvard University PhD candidate in the United States, made the declaration in an interview with Arise TV on Thursday.

He said his emergence as the DLA presidential candidate was driven by a desire to provide a new political direction for Nigeria, adding that he had accepted the responsibility after Nigerians urged him to move beyond his empowerment activities and take a more direct role in politics.

“The presidential candidate of the DLA is the youngest presidential candidate or the incoming president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the youngest,” he said.

Adebisi said he was pursuing a PhD in Government, Political Thought and History in the United States and had decided to enter the 2027 presidential race after studying the factors responsible for political success and national transformation.

He said, “As 35-year-old Harvard PhD candidate in the United States of America, I in the Department of Government, Political Thought and History, I decided to pick this responsibility that was brought to me because it was even not part of the agenda before.”

According to him, he had previously been known for his empowerment programmes, particularly initiatives targeted at low-income market women and young Nigerians.

He also recalled his grassroots digital literacy campaign, which he said was launched after the Federal Government introduced computer-based testing for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board examinations.

Adebisi said his team sent computers and volunteers to communities across Osun, Ekiti, Oyo, the South-West, North-Central and the Federal Capital Territory to train secondary school pupils.

He, however, said he was eventually persuaded to take up the political challenge after concluding that his efforts outside politics could not sufficiently address the country’s problems.

“They beckon on me that you can’t stay in America and think you’re solving the Nigeria’s problem,” he said.

The DLA candidate said he subsequently travelled to China to study the country’s economic reforms, including its 1978 economic reform, visiting Beijing and Shanghai.

He added that he also studied the United States’ liberty agenda to understand the political and economic factors that shaped the country.

Adebisi said his preparation had strengthened his conviction that he was capable of leading Nigeria and defeating President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress in 2027.

“The ship and the chariot of the oppressors is about to sink in this country. As I, this, this, Moses, as people usually call me, is the only person that have the capacity to defeat the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led APC government come 2027 in Nigeria,” he said.

He also claimed that the DLA had adopted what he described as a “submarine approach” to build its political structure without attracting attention.

“We have used our submarine approach to get into the system. They never see us coming, including yourself. Nobody saw us coming at all, but we have come anyway,” he said.

Adebisi further claimed that the DLA was the only political party registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission between 2022 and 2026, despite 171 political associations seeking registration during the period.

He said the party’s structures and grassroots strategy would be deployed to prosecute the 2027 election and, ultimately, bring what he described as liberty to Nigerians.

The candidate called on Nigerian youths to support his political movement, saying the time had come for them to take an active role in determining the country’s future.