2027 elections: Meet the 5 youngest presidential candidates in Nigeria

As Nigeria moves towards the 2027 presidential election, a number of relatively young politicians are set to contest the country’s highest elective office, with candidates in their 30s and 40s featuring prominently on the final list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The commission’s final list contains 18 presidential candidates and their running mates for the presidential election scheduled for January 16, 2027. The candidates are drawn from different political parties and have widely varying backgrounds, qualifications and levels of political experience. Blueprint reports

Among the 18 candidates, the youngest is 35-year-old Moses Olusoji Adebisi of the Democratic Liberty Alliance (DLA), while two candidates are aged 43, another is 44 and one is 48.

The five candidates provide a glimpse into the younger age group represented on the 2027 presidential ballot.

Moses Olusoji Adebisi – 35 years, DLA

At 35, Moses Olusoji Adebisi of the Democratic Liberty Alliance is the youngest presidential candidate on INEC’s final list for the 2027 election.

INEC lists Adebisi as the presidential candidate of the DLA and records his qualifications as the First School Leaving Certificate, Senior Secondary School Certificate and Bachelor of Science.

He will contest the presidential election alongside 35-year-old Nafisat Usaku Abubakar, who is listed as his running mate.

Adebisi’s candidacy places him at the lower end of the age spectrum in a presidential field that includes several long-serving politicians and former office holders.

The age gap between Adebisi and some of the older candidates is particularly notable. INEC’s final list puts the ages of the presidential candidates between 35 and 79, making the DLA candidate the only presidential contender below the age of 40.

His appearance on the ballot also means the 2027 election will feature a candidate seeking the presidency at an age when many Nigerians in politics are still building their careers.

Sunday Chibuzo Okereke – 43 years, LP

At 43, Sunday Chibuzo Okereke of the Labour Party is the second-youngest presidential candidate on the final list, sharing the age bracket with Nkem Esther Okereke of the National Rescue Movement.

INEC records Okereke as the Labour Party’s presidential candidate and lists his qualifications as the First School Leaving Certificate, NABTEB, Bachelor of Science with honours, Master of Library Science with distinction, Master of Science with distinction and a PhD.

He will contest alongside Hajja Bintu Konto, who is listed as the Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate.

Okereke’s emergence gives the Labour Party a different presidential candidate from the one who represented the party in the 2023 presidential election, when Peter Obi was its standard-bearer.

The 43-year-old is therefore among the younger candidates seeking to occupy the presidency in a contest that includes candidates with decades of political experience.

His candidacy also adds to the educational diversity of the 2027 presidential field, with INEC’s published information showing that candidates possess qualifications ranging from basic school certificates to postgraduate degrees.

Nkem Esther Okereke – 43 years, NRM

Nkem Esther Okereke, also 43, is the presidential candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM) and one of the two women on INEC’s final presidential candidate list.

She is contesting alongside 35-year-old Sulaiman Nasir Muhammed, making their ticket one of the younger presidential and vice-presidential combinations in the election.

INEC lists Okereke’s qualifications as the First School Leaving Certificate, Senior Secondary School Certificate, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and PhD.

Her inclusion is significant in another respect, as only two of the 18 presidential candidates on INEC’s final list are women. The other is Ada Elizabeth Frederick Okwori of the National Democratic Party.

The NRM candidate is therefore part of both the younger generation represented in the presidential race and the small number of women seeking the presidency in 2027.

Her candidacy comes amid wider discussions around the participation of younger Nigerians and women in elective politics, although the final candidate list shows that the majority of presidential contenders remain men and are older than the five candidates highlighted in this report.

Abbas-Bin Aliyu – 44 years, ADP

Abbas-Bin Aliyu, 44, is the presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP).

INEC lists Aliyu’s qualifications as the First School Leaving Certificate, Senior Secondary School Certificate and Bachelor of Science.

He is contesting the presidential election with Ike Chinazam as his running mate.

At 44, Aliyu is the fourth-youngest presidential candidate on the final list and is among the relatively younger male contenders in the 2027 race.

His candidacy adds another name to the group of politicians below the age of 50 who will appear on the presidential ballot.

The ADP candidate, like the other younger contenders, is entering a race where the age profile of the candidates varies considerably. INEC’s official list shows that the presidential field includes candidates in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

Ada Elizabeth Frederick Okwori – 48 years, NDP

Completing the list of the five youngest presidential candidates is Ada Elizabeth Frederick Okwori of the National Democratic Party (NDP), who is 48.

Okwori is one of only two women among the 18 presidential candidates published by INEC.

The commission lists her qualification as the First School Leaving Certificate, Senior Secondary School Certificate and Higher National Diploma in Accountancy.

She will contest the election alongside Chukwuemeka Uchenna Anthony, who is listed as her running mate.

Okwori’s candidacy gives the NDP representation among the younger presidential contenders while also making the 2027 presidential race one in which two women will seek the highest elective office in the country.

Her age places her at the upper end of the five youngest candidates, but she remains considerably younger than several of the leading figures on the final presidential list.

A wider age spread on the ballot

The presence of five candidates aged between 35 and 48 highlights the broad age range of the 2027 presidential field.

INEC’s final list shows that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC candidate, is listed at 74, while former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress is 79. Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress is listed at 65, Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party at 64, and Oluseyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement at 58.

Other candidates, including Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress and Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party, are also below 60.

The 2027 presidential election will consequently present Nigerian voters with candidates spanning several generations and with varied educational and professional backgrounds.

Beyond age, however, INEC’s final list provides only the formal details of the candidates and their tickets. Questions concerning their policy proposals, political records, experience, programmes and campaign commitments will depend on the information each candidate and political party presents to the electorate during the campaign period.

For now, the five youngest presidential candidates officially listed by INEC are Moses Olusoji Adebisi of the DLA, 35; Sunday Chibuzo Okereke of the Labour Party, 43; Nkem Esther Okereke of the NRM, 43; Abbas-Bin Aliyu of the ADP, 44; and Ada Elizabeth Frederick Okwori of the NDP, 48.

Their presence on the final ballot adds a younger dimension to a presidential contest otherwise dominated by candidates from older generations, while also putting different political parties and their respective programmes before Nigerian voters ahead of the January 2027 election.