The 2023 Ebonyi State gubernatorial election was held on 18 March 2023, to elect the

Governor of Ebonyi State Ebonyi State, Nigeria has been led by governors and administrators since its creation in October 1996 from the old Abakaliki division of Enugu State and old Afikpo division of Abia State by Abacha's government. See also *States of Nigeria *L ...

, concurrent with elections to the Ebonyi State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly. The election — which was postponed from its original 11 March date — was held three weeks after the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

and National Assembly elections. Incumbent APC Governor

Dave Umahi David Nweze Umahi (born 25 July 1963) is a Nigerian politician who serves as the minister of works of Nigeria. He previously served as the senator representing Ebonyi South senatorial district from June to August 2023, and as the governor of E ...

was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term. Speaker of the House of Assembly

Francis Nwifuru Francis Ogbonna Erishi Nwifuru (born 25 February 1975) is a Nigerian politician and lawyer who is the current governor of Ebonyi State since 2023. He previously served as speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly from June 2015 to May 2023. ...

held the office for the APC by a margin of 35% over first runner-up and PDP nominee — businessman Ifeanyi Odii. Party primaries were scheduled for between 4 April and 9 June 2022 with the

All Progressives Grand Alliance The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is a Nigerian political party formed in June 2002 and has governed the South eastern state of Anambra since 2003. Electoral history At the Nigerian parliamentary election, 2003, legislative elections ...

nominating former Secretary to the State Government Bernard Odoh on 29 May while both the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, t ...

and the Peoples Democratic Party had two separate parallel primaries. For the APC, one primary nominated Nwifuru on 26 May while another was won by former Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission chairman Elias Mbam on the same day; in the PDP, one primary nominated Odii on 30 May as a different primary nominated

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for Ebonyi Central

Joseph Ogba Joseph Obinna Ogba (born 1961 in Ebonyi State, Nigeria) is a Nigerian politician. He is the senator representing Ebonyi Central senatorial district in the Nigerian Senate. He is a member of the 8th National Assembly in Nigeria and also senator ...

on 6 June. By July, INEC recognised Nwifuru as the APC nominee while the PDP nomination was awarded to Odii by the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in September. The day after the election, collation completed and INEC declared Nwifuru as the victor. In the full results, Nwifuru won about 199,000 votes and 58% of the vote as runner-up Odii received over 80,000 votes and 23% of the vote while Odoh came third with around 52,000 votes and 15% of the vote. Odii rejected the official results and filed legal challenges; the proceedings eventually reached the

, which affirmed the victory of Nwifuru in a January 2024 judgment.

Electoral system

The

is elected using a modified

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

. 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 A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The ph ...

. 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.

Background

Ebonyi State Ebonyi () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by Benue State, Enugu State to the west, Cross River State to the east and southeast, and Abia Stat ...

is a small,

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...

-majority southeastern

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

with a growing economy and vast natural areas but facing an underdeveloped yet vital agricultural sector, rising debt, and a low COVID-19 vaccination rate. Politically, the state's 2019 elections were categorized as a continuation of the PDP's control as Umahi won with over 81% of the vote and the party won every seat in the House of Assembly along with all three senate seats. However, the PDP did lose one

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

seat to the APC after a court ruling and although the state was easily won by PDP presidential nominee

Atiku Abubakar Atiku Abubakar (; born 25 November 1946) is a Nigerian politician and businessman who served as the vice president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo. He ran for the office of governor of Adamawa State i ...

, it still swung towards Buhari compared to 2015 and had lower turnout. In the interim between 2019 and 2023, the state's political landscape drastically changed as Umahi defecting to the APC in November 2020 set in motion a wave of other defections that gave the APC control of the House of Assembly. While the defections massively improved the APC's southeastern standing, the legal ramifications are still unknown as a high court briefly removed Umahi and all assemblymembers who also defected from office in March 2022 until the decision was overturned on appeal; it has been appealed further. Ahead of his second term, Umahi stated focuses included agriculture, economic development, and resource development; however, he was criticized for authoritarian-esque actions. Alarms were raised after Umahi's defection when he ordered security forces to lock the state PDP secretariat in 2021 and when the state PDP spokesman was arrested for criticizing Umahi in 2022; he was also accused of using security forces to harass critics and political opponents. At other points during his administration, Umahi was given praise for economic diversification and increasing government transparency while receiving further criticism for blaming IPOB attacks on politicians without evidence and ranting against the judiciary.

Primary elections

The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results, were to take place between 4 April and 3 June 2022 but the deadline was extended to 9 June. An informal zoning

gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding wikt:agreement, agreement between two or more parties. It is typically Oral contract, oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspok ...

sets the Ebonyi North Senatorial District to have the next governor as Ebonyi North has not held the governorship since 2007. However, some groups such as the Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in the Diaspora claimed that as one full rotation of districts would be complete in 2023, further zoning was unnecessary. On the other hand, some leaders in the Izzi subgroup of the

Igbo people The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and historically also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'', / / ''Eboans'', ''Heebo''; natively ) are an ethnic group found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. Their primary origin is fo ...

claim that not only should the governorship be zoned to Ebonyi North, it should go to the Izzi as former Governor

Sam Egwu Sam Ominyi Egwu CON (born 20 June 1954) is a Nigerian politician and member of People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria. He was elected Governor of Ebonyi State in the 1999 Ebonyi State gubernatorial election from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 200 ...

was from a non-Izzi area of Ebonyi North. Meanwhile, some leaders in the Ezaa subgroup of the

called for their group to hold the governorship as the Ezaa are one of the largest subgroups in the state. Eventually, the PDP settled on zoning to the "Abakaliki bloc" (the North and Central Senatorial Districts) while APGA and the APC declined to formally zone their nominations.

All Progressives Congress

Ahead of the primary, the state APC constituted a zoning committee that submitted its report in April 2022; along with the zoning committee, Umahi also asked leaders from both the Ezaa and Izzi subethnic groups to put forward candidates. While Ezaa APC leaders settled on former Senator Julius Ucha at a meeting in Onueke, the Izzi process was much more contentious as Izzi stakeholders were reportedly divided between backing RMFAC Chairman Elias Mbam or Assembly Speaker Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. After Mbam eventually won out, Nwifuru supporters rushed to endorse him anyway while other Izzi leaders chastised the supportive statement. Another cause of intraparty strife were rumours that Umahi was personally supporting Nwifuru. This speculation was confirmed on 23 April 2022 when Umahi endorsed Nwifuru while at a funeral. Ucha and other candidates derided Umahi's endorsement of Nwifuru as 'undemocratic imposition' that was characteristic of his "high-handed" party leadership style. In response, an Umahi aide claimed the endorsement was based on the wide support Nwifuru received from stakeholders and that Umahi's would not prevent internal democracy during the primary. On the primary date, two separate factional primaries were held with the grouping backed by Umahi and the state party holding an indirect primary at the Pa Ngele Oruta Township Stadium while the faction supported by Mbam held an indirect primary at Mbam's campaign office. After both primaries were peacefully held, the Stadium primary ended in Nwifuru winning by a wide margin while the Mbam factional primary resulted in his victory. Nwifuru was recognized as the legitimate nominee in July by INEC.

Nominated

: House of Assembly member for Izzi West (2011–present) and Speaker of the House of Assembly (2015–present) **Running mate—

Patricia Obila Patricia Obila is a Nigerian politician who is serving as the deputy governor of Ebonyi State Ebonyi () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by ...

Afikpo North Afikpo North is a Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Ehugbo, Afikpo. Important townships include Ehugbo (with Itim Ukwu, Ohaisu, Nkpoghoro, Ugwuegu/Amaizu, Ozizza autonomous communities character ...

Local Government Vice Chairman

Eliminated in primary

* Elias Mbam: Chairman of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (2010–2015; 2019–2022) and former commissioner (1999–2005) * Edward Nkwegu: Chairman of Ebonyi State Extended Special Public Works Programme of the Federal Government, 2019 APC gubernatorial candidate, and 2015 LP gubernatorial nominee (defected after the primary to the LP) * Rosemary Ofoke Nwogbaga * Julius Ucha: member of the National Assembly Service Commission (2020–present), 2015 APC gubernatorial nominee, 2011 ACN gubernatorial nominee, former

for Ebonyi Central (2003–2011), former

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

member, and former Speaker of the

Withdrew

* Nnanna Igwe: medical doctor

Declined

* Augustine Nwankwegu: former state Attorney General (2015–2017), former

member for Izzi West, and former Speaker of the

* Godwin Ogbaga: former acting Secretary to the State Government and former Minister of State for Power and Steel (1998–1999) *

Sonni Ogbuoji Sonni Ogbuoji is a Nigerian politician who was elected Senator for Ebonyi South, in Ebonyi State, Nigeria in the 9 April 2011 national elections. He was elected on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) ticket. He left the senate in the 2019. Sonni ...

: former

for Ebonyi South (2011–2019), 2019 APC gubernatorial nominee, former Commissioner for Economic Empowerment and Poverty Reduction (2009–2010), and former

Afikpo South Edda is a local government area in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. It was formerly known as Afikpo South, until the renaming was confirmed by President Muhammadu Buhari on 17 March 2023. History Most of the autonomous communities of Edda existed as small ...

Local Government Chairman * Kenneth Ugbala:

Secretary to the State Government The Secretary to the State Government (SSG) is an official in the state governments of Nigeria's 36 states and second executive official after the Deputy Governor of every State. The individual who holds the office is usually appointed by the Stat ...

(2019–2022)

Results

All Progressives Grand Alliance

In early April 2022, state APGA Chairman Ricky Okorouka announced that the state party would not zone its gubernatorial nomination. On 25 March 2022, the national APGA announced its primary schedule, setting its expression of interest form price at ₦3 million and the nomination form price at ₦12 million with a 50% discount for women candidates and candidates with disabilities. Forms are to be sold from 29 March to 11 April; after the purchase of forms, gubernatorial candidates are to be screened by a party committee on 22 and 23 April while the screening appeal process is slated for 5 May. Ward congresses are set for 10 May to elect delegates for the primary. Candidates approved by the screening process advanced to a primary set for 29 May, in concurrence with all other APGA gubernatorial primaries; challenges to the result could be made on 31 May. On the primary date, former Secretary to the State Government Bernard Odoh was the sole candidate and won the nomination unopposed. In his acceptance speech, Odoh derided the APC and PDP along with pledging to lead APGA to victory.

Nominated

* Bernard Odoh: 2019 APC gubernatorial candidate and former Secretary to the State Government (2015–2018) Running mate— Nkata Chuku

Results

People's Democratic Party

In late September 2021, State PDP Chairman Fred Udeogu announced that the state party had zoned its gubernatorial nomination to the "Abakaliki bloc" (the North and Central Senatorial Districts). On the primary date, the national PDP abruptly cancelled the gubernatorial primary along with all other Ebonyi PDP primaries due to court ruling over state party leadership. Before the national leadership set a new primary date, a party faction led by ousted state chairman Silas Onu held its own election, nominating businessman Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii by a wide margin. The national party and its recognized state chairman, Tochukwu Okorie, rejected the primary and held their own primary on 6 June; it was won by Senator

. However, the next day, a Federal High Court annulled the Okorie factional primary and declared the Odii-won primary as legitimate. The court battle continued afterwards until 14 September when the

ruled in favor of Odii and declared him the legitimate nominee. INEC briefly removed Odii as recognized nominee in December 2022 due to renewed litigation but he was returned to the list of candidates by late January.

Nominated

* Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii: businessman

Eliminated in primary

* Edwin Anayo:

member for Ezza North/Ishielu (2015–present) * Emmanuel Ezeh: President of Ebonyi Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture * Austin Igwe-Edeze * Paulinus Igwe Nwagu: former

for Ebonyi Central (2011–2015), former

member for Ezza North/Ishielu (2007–2011), and former

Ezza North Ezza North is a local government area in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is at Ebiaji town. It has an area of 305 km and a population of 145,619 at the 2006 census. It is a predominantly Igbo town inhabited by the Ezza and the Orrin ...

Local Government Chairman (1999–2002) * Fidelis Nwankwo: former Minister of State for Health and former Izzi Local Government Chairman * Augustine Nwazunku: former Secretary of the Ebonyi State Agency for Control of AIDS and brother of opponent Chukwuma Nwazunku * Chukwuma Nwazunku:

member for Abakaliki/Izzi (2015–present), former

member, former Speaker of the

, and brother of opponent Augustine Nwazunku * Adaeze Nwuzor: former

Ebonyi Ebonyi () is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by Benue State, Enugu State to the west, Cross River State to the east and southeast, and Abia State to the southwest. Named after the Abo ...

Local Government Chairman *

for Ebonyi Central (2015–present), former Commissioner for Youths and Sports (2002–2003), and former

Ishielu Ishielu is a Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Ezillo. It has an area of 872 km and a population of 151,048 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the are ...

Local Government Chairman **Running mate— Oliver Osi:

member for Ivo * Sylvester Ogbaga:

member for Abakaliki/Izzi (2007–present) and former

Abakaliki Abakaliki is the capital city of Ebonyi State in southeastern Nigeria, located southeast of Enugu. The inhabitants are primarily members of the Igbo nation. It was the headquarters of the Ogoja province before the creation of the Southeast ...

Local Government Chairman * Chris Usulor: House of Assembly member for Ezza South (2011–present) and son of former Ebonyi Central

Vincent Obasi Usulor

Declined

* Chukwuma Nwandiugo: former Commissioner for Works and Transport

Results

Minor parties

* Chukwuma Awuregu Nwandugo ( Action Alliance) **Running mate: Cordelia Chiaka Ugboaja * Kenneth Nwabueze Oziomaeze ( Action Democratic Party) **Running mate: Ogochukwu Jonah Okorie * Apollos Ndubisi Okpara ( Action Peoples Party) **Running mate: Elijah Umoke * Bernard Nyaba Nwonomara (

African Democratic Congress The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is a political party in Nigeria. As of 2022, Ralph Nwosu is the National Chairman. There are 2 ADC lawmakers currently in the Nigerian National Assembly. There are no ADC senators in the Nigerian Senate. H ...

) **Running mate: Solomon Ogbonna Okoh * Chinenye Judith Igwe (

Allied Peoples Movement Allied Peoples Movement (APM) is a registered political party in Nigeria. The party was registered as a political party by the Independent National Electoral Commission in August, 2018. The party endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu ...

) **Running mate: Kingsley Chukwuma Aliede * Edward Nkwegu ( Labour Party) **Running mate: Ajah Nwabueze Igwe * Chris Soni Adol-Awam (

New Nigeria Peoples Party The New Nigeria People's Party is a populist political party in Nigeria, predominantly active in Kano State Kano (Hausa language, Hausa: ) is one of the 36 States of Nigeria, states of Nigeria, located in the Northern Region, Nigeria, northe ...

) **Running mate: Nkechinyere B. Okochi * Anthony N. Usulor (

National Rescue Movement This is a list of political parties in Nigeria. The Federal Republic of Nigeria has a multi-party system. The largest by National Assembly seats are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). There are also a num ...

) **Running mate: Evo Christopher Ogbonnaya * Micheal Ikechukwu Nwankwo (

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

) **Running mate: Iheanacho Nwugo * Sunday Andrew Opoke (

Young Progressives Party The Young Progressives Party (YPP) is a social-democratic political party in Nigeria. The party was created to challenge the two major contemporary parties in Nigeria, the People's Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress. In its man ...

) **Running mate: Sunday Ogbonnaya Okoro

Campaign

Much of the general election campaign was dominated by internal party disputes that often led to extensive legal battles. The nominations of both Nwifuru and Odii were challenged by the winners of their parties' parallel primaries with the PDP case rising to the

. For the state PDP, the court cases were only a part of its wider internal crisis. By 2023, attention mainly switched to the presidential election on 25 February. In the election, Ebonyi State voted for

Peter Obi Peter Gregory Obi (; born 19 July 1961) is a Nigerian politician and businessman who was the Governor of Anambra State under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 17 March 2006 to 3 November 2006, when he was impeached. He was reinstated on 9 Febru ...

(LP); Obi won the state with 79.8% of the vote, beating

Bola Tinubu Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian politician serving as the 16th and current president of Nigeria since 2023. He previously served as the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and senator for Lagos ...

(APC) at 13.0% and

(PDP) at 4.2%. Although the result was unsurprising—Ebonyi is in Obi's southeastern stronghold and projections had favored him—the result led to increased attention on the chances of LP gubernatorial nominee Edward Nkwegu as opposed to Nwifuru, Odoh, or Odii. However, the LP nomination itself was embroiled in legal action which culminated in the removal of Nkwegu as nominee. In the wake of the presidential election and the court ruling sacking Nkwegu, analysts focused on various factors including regional strength by candidate, internal party relations, and zoning dynamics.

Projections

Conduct

Electoral timetable

General election

Results

By senatorial district

The results of the election by senatorial district.

By federal constituency

The results of the election by federal constituency.

By local government area

The results of the election by local government area.

Notes

References

{{Nigerian state and local elections Ebonyi State gubernatorial election

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2023 Ebonyi State elections