The 2023 Nigerian gubernatorial elections were held for state governors in 31 out of 36 Nigerian states. All but three elections were held on 18 March—concurrent with elections to every state house of assembly, three weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections—while the Imo State, Kogi State, and Bayelsa State elections will be held on 11 November. The last regular gubernatorial elections for all states were in 2019. All states have a two term limit for Governors which makes 18 incumbent governors ineligible for re-election.
Several incumbent governors were ineligible for re-election due to term limits. Nine APC governors were term-limited while nine incumbent APC governors were eligible for re-election. Among PDP governors, eight were term-limited while four could seek re-election. Elections will be held in 18 of the 20 states with APC governors and 12 of the 14 states with PDP governors.
The APC and PDP picked up two governorships each in the March elections, with the APC winning Benue and Sokoto while the PDP gained Plateau and Zamfara. Additionally, both the LP and NNPP gained one governorship with the LP gaining Abia and the NNPP flipping Kano. Two gubernatorial races—Adamawa and Kebbi—were declared inconclusive due to close margins and results cancellations.
Overall, the March election results were noted for few changes as state's governing parties generally retained control of governorships. Like in the federal elections, Independent National Electoral Commission performance dominated post-election discussion as dozens of candidates claimed irregularities had impacted their elections. Additionally, the March gubernatorial elections had significantly more reports of violence and vote-buying than during the federal elections, especially in the states of Lagos and Kano.
Prior partisan composition
Before the elections, there were 21 APC governors, 14 PDP governors, and one APGA governor. Of the governor's offices up for election in 2023, 19 are held by an APC member while 12 are held by a PDP member.
Results summary
Notes
Abia State
Incumbent PDP Governor Okezie Ikpeazu was re-elected to a second term in 2019 with 60.26% of the vote. He will be term-limited in 2023 and cannot seek re-election for a third term.
Primaries
For the APC, two parallel primaries were held with one faction holding an indirect primary at the Chidiebere Arena while the other faction held a direct primary (citing a national APC directive for a direct primary in Abia) that carried on into the next day. After both primaries were peacefully held, the Chidiebere Arena primary ended in economist Ikechi Emenike winning by a wide margin while the direct primary resulted in a victory for former minister Uche Ogah. INEC recognised Emenike as the legitimate nominee in July 2022 after a court ruled in his favour.
In the APGA primary, Gregory Ibe (an academic administrator) defeated his three opponents with around 54% of the delegates' votes. While the party accepted his nomination, second runner-up Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma rejected the results.
In the PDP primary, Uche Ikonne (an optometrist and academic administrator) emerged victorious after almost all of his opponents withdrew on the day of the primary. Reasons for withdrawal were split between those claimed that Ikpeazu's tacit support for Ikonne along with doctored delegate lists removed any fairness from the primary and those that dropped out to support Ikonne. Ikonne defeated the two remaining candidates with over 80% of the vote in an indirect primary on 25 May.
Adamawa State
Incumbent PDP Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri was elected to a first term in 2019 with 43.22% of the vote. He is eligible to run for re-election and has been renominated by his party.
Primaries
For the APC, Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed—Senator for Adamawa Central—won the primary with 42% of delegates' votes. Despite some controversies during the primary, Ahmed was accepted as the nominee and made history as the first women to nominated by a major party for the Adamawa governorship and only the second women ever nominated by a major party for any state governorship.
In the PDP primary, Fintiri was the sole candidate due to the disqualification of his only primary opponent—Jameel Abubakar Waziri. As he was unopposed, Fintiri won unanimously at the primary in Yola.
Akwa Ibom State
Incumbent PDP Governor Udom Gabriel Emmanuel was re-elected to a second term in 2019 with 74.64% of the vote. He will be term-limited in 2023 and cannot seek re-election for a third term.