2023 Kogi State gubernatorial election will take place on 11 November 2023 to elect a new Governor of the State .to succeed the incumbent APC Governor YahayaBello who is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third term.
The primaries was held between 27 March and 17 April 2022.
Its factual that Kogi State has a population of about 3.5 million people and is made up of 21 local government area with more than 2,500 polling units in the state that are mainly Christian and Muslim populations.
The confluence state is a diverse state in the North Central with a large number of mineral resources but facing an underdeveloped agricultural sector,deforestation, and cohessive politics in the North central region.
The 2023 governorship election will be the 6th gubernatorial election in Kogi State.
Politically, the state’s early 2019 elections were described by a swing towards the
APC as the party was mainly successful,unseating almost all PDP senators and house members to sweep most House of Representatives and two senate seats as the state was won by APC presidential nomines.
Muhammadu Buhari with over 54%. The House of Assembly election also was a win for the APC as the party won every seat in the assembly.The November election ended similarly with Bello winning election to a second term and the APC gained a senate seat in a rerun election; however, both elections were riddled wit irregularities and electoral violence.
In Bello’s second inaugural address in 2020, he declared that his second term would highlight agricultural development,increasing employment and improving the state’s revenue.
Performance-wise, Bello was commended for gender inclusion in his cabinet but his term was immensely controversial as he was criticized for inciting electoral violence, autocratic actions, lies about COVID-19 and vaccines and further corruption allegations.
Primary elections
The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results took place,between 27 March and 17 April 2022 with no formal zoning agreement in place, groups from Kogi West Senatorial District (specifically some groups representing the Okun people ) have called for the governorship to be zoned to their district with the justification of no elected governor having come from Kogi West since the inception of the state .
On the other hand, groups from Kogi Central Senatorial District (specifically some groups representing the Ebira people are pushing for the office to be retained by their district, claiming that Kogi East Senatorial District held the office for over four terms and thus should be allowed to continue.
All Progressives Congress
Ahead of the APC primary,major questions were asked about which candidate
would receive the endorsement of Bello to be his successor.
However, after the May 2022 primary for federal positions resulted in several losses for Bello loyalists, new questions emerged over Bello’s Interest of the state party.
In February 2022, the national APC announced its gubernatorial primaries’ schedule setting its expression of interest form price at ₦10 million and nomination form price at ₦40 million with a 50% nomination form discount for candidates younger than 40 while women and candidates with disabilities get free nomination forms.
Both primary forms were sold from 14 to 22 February2023. The form submission deadline was set for 22 February while candidates were screened between 24 and 26 February.
Ward congresses were set for 8 April in Bayelsa and Imo states to elect delegates for the primary while the Kogi congresses had been held on 8 February.
Candidates approved by the screening process advanced to a primary set for 10 April, in concurrence with the other APC gubernatorial primaries; challenges to the result could be made on 12 April..
Purchased forms
Smart Adeyemi: Senator for Kogi West (2007–2015; 2019–present)Abdulkareem Mohammad Jamiu: Chief of Staff to Governor Bello (2019–present)Abiodun Faleke :a House of Representatives member for Ikeja (Lagos State) (2011–present) and 2015 APC deputy gubernatorial nomineeJibril Momoh state Accountant GeneralAhmed Usman Ododo : state Auditor-General for Local Government,Sanusi Ohiare : former Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Agency ,Yakubu Oseni :Senator for Kogi Central (2019–present) Salami Ozigi-Deedat :Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs ,Murtala Ajaka wasnt allowed to contest based on a court order that was said to be falsely produced on the morning of the election.
He then decamped to SDP, where he is now the flagbearer and has a huge followership;
Mukadam Ashiru Idris: Commissioner of Finance ,]Babatunde Irukera: 2015 and 2019 APC gubernatorial candidate and CEO ofthe FCCPCKhalifa Abdulrahman Okene: 2019 APC Kogi Central senatorialcandidate Edward David Onoja : Deputy Governor (2019
Ahmed Usman Ododo won the election and emerged flagbearer of the party for the election.
People’s Democratic Party
On 1 December 2022, the national PDP announced its gubernatorial primaries’
schedule.
Both primary forms—the expression of interest and nomination forms—were sold from 16 to 31 January 2023, aside from Kogi State where
the deadline was later extended to 13 February.
Similarly, all form submission
deadlines were pushed back from 13 February to 1 March. Ward congresses were set for 28-29 March and LGA congresses were rescheduled for 8 April to elect delegates for the primary.
Candidates approved by the screening process advanced to a primary set for 14-15 May, in concurrence with all other PDP gubernatorial primaries; challenges to the result could be mad
Murtala Ajaka : 2023 SDP gubernatorial Flagbearer His Running mate is Hon Abenemi
There are currently 18 political parties in Nigeria that are fielding candidates for this year crucial election and the parties are contest in the election.
A
AA
ADP
APP
AAC
ADC
APM
APC
APGA
BP
LP
NNPP
NRM
PDP
PRP
SDP
YPP
ZLP
The 2023 election will be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the only legal body empower by the nation constitution to do so.
Its also an interesting fact that the election will be conducted using electronic voting machines.
In the previous election, voter turnout was about 43%.:
Security have always been a major concern in every Kogi elections,its may raises it ugly head in this year gubernatorial election as well given the history of election-related violence in the state.
As usual ,there are likely to be a lot of propaganda and misinformation during the campaign period from political parties as it was in the previous five electioms held in the state
Voters should also prepare tbeir minds for logistical challenges problem as witnessed in previous polling units in the state especially in rural areas.
There will likely be a lot of last-minute alliances and coalitions between political parties and candidates.
As usual,previous elections were characterised by electoral malpractices, such as vote-buying, ballot-snatching, and underage voting and the 2023 gubernatorial election may not e different
Voter education and sensitization are always key to ensuring that voters are informed about the electoral process and their rights but it all depend on impact of the oil subsidy have on the electorates
Media,Observers from international organizations, civil society groups, and the media will be monitoring the election to ensure its credibility.
This report is compiled by Confluence media news room whose members are from The print,The Broadcast and Ministry of Information
