Nigeria’s 2023 election in a nutshell

Africa-Press – Nigeria. The 2023 Nigerian elections will be held, in large part, on 25 February and 11 March 2023. The President and Vice President will be elected on 25 February, with incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari ineligible to run, being term-limited. Additionally, there will also be elections on the same day for the Senate and the House of Representatives. On 11 March, twenty-eight gubernatorial elections will be held alongside elections to state houses of assembly in all 36 states. Three additional gubernatorial elections will be held later in the year alongside potential rerun elections for regularly scheduled elections annulled from earlier in the year.

Electoral system

The President of Nigeria is elected using a modified two-round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive a plurality of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least 24 of the 36 states. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round will be held between the top candidate and the next candidate to have received a plurality of votes in the highest number of states.

The 109 members of the Senate are elected from 109 single-seat constituencies (three in each state and one for the Federal Capital Territory) by first-past-the-post voting. The 360 members of the House of Representatives are also elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies.

Similarly to the president, Governors are elected using a modified two-round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive the plurality of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of state local government areas. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round will be held between the top candidate and the next candidate to have received a plurality of votes in the highest number of local government areas.

The 991 members of the state Houses of Assembly are elected using first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies.

Federal elections
All Progressives Congress primary

With President Muhammadu Buhari having been elected to the office of president twice, he was ineligible for renomination. There was no formal zoning agreement for the APC nomination despite calls from politicians and interest groups such as the Southern Governors’ Forum to zone the nomination to the South as Buhari, a northerner, was elected twice. The party held its indirect presidential primary on 8 June 2022 in Abuja and nominated Bola Tinubu former Governor of Lagos State. In mid-June, the APC submitted the name of Kabir Ibrahim Masari—a politician and party operative from Katsina State—as a placeholder vice presidential nominee to be substituted at a later date. On 10 July, Ibrahim Masari formally withdrew as vice presidential nominee and the later that day, Tinubu announced Kashim Shettima—Senator for Borno Central and former Governor of Borno State—as his replacement.

Labour Party primary

On 30 May 2022, shortly after former Governor of Anambra State Peter Obi joined the party from the PDP, the Labour Party held its presidential primary in Asaba where Obi was nominated unopposed.[9] On 17 June, the party submitted the name of Doyin Okupe—a physician and former PDP candidate who became the Director-General of the Obi Campaign Organisation—as a placeholder vice presidential nominee to be substituted for someone else at a later date. On 7 July, Okupe formally withdrew as vice presidential nominee and the next day, Obi announced Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed—former Senator for Kaduna North—as his replacement.

New Nigeria Peoples Party primary

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) held its convention and presidential primary election on 8 June 2022 and nominated Rabiu Kwankwaso, who was the sole candidate, as its presidential candidate for the 2023 general election. On 14 July 2022, Kwankwaso picked Isaac Idahosa as his running mate and vice presidential candidate of the NNPP.

People’s Democratic Party primary

In October 2021, newly elected PDP Chairman Iyorchia Ayu backed the indirect primary method of nominating a presidential candidate instead of the direct or consensus methods.[15] There was no zoning agreement for the PDP nomination despite calls from politicians and interest groups such as the Southern Governors’ Forum to zone the nomination to the South as the APC’s Buhari, a Northerner, was elected twice.[16] The party held its indirect presidential primary on 28 May 2022 in Abuja and nominated Atiku Abubakar—its 2019 nominee and former Vice President.[17][18] On 16 June, Abubakar selected Governor of Delta State Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate.[19]

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