2023 Enugu State gubernatorial election

The Governor of Enugu State is 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.

Enugu State is a small, Igbo-majority southeastern state with a growing economy and natural resources but facing an underdeveloped 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 Ugwuanyi won with over 95% of the vote and the party won every seat in the House of Assembly along with all three senate seats and all eight House of Representatives seats. On the presidential level, the state was easily won by PDP presidential nominee Atiku Abubakar but it did swung towards Buhari compared to 2015 and had lower turnout.

During its second term, the Ugwuanyi administration's stated focuses included battling insecurity, completing infrastructure projects, and improving rural roads. In terms of his performance, Ugwuanyi was commended for taking some action to combat insecurity, expanding the rural road network, and properly deescalating November 2020 religious clashes in Nsukka while being criticized for failing to stop kidnappings and poor water management.^{[15][16][17][18]}

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.^[2][19] An informal zoning gentlemen's agreement sets the Enugu East Senatorial District to have the next governor as Enugu East has not held the governorship since 2007.^[20][21] While the APC zoned their nomination to the East, the PDP and APGA did not make a formal zoning decision; all three parties ultimately nominated an easterner.

Like in most states, the months of June and July 2022 were dedicated to attempts at party reconciliation in the wake of the primaries. While the APC leadership crisis had never ended and APGA was never extremely divided, the PDP faced several internal divides based on personal and regional strife; both primary runner-up Chijioke Jonathan Edeoga and longtime Senator Ike Ekweremadu were rumored to be leaving the party after the primary as Ekweremadu first went to the APC before a new plan for an Ekweremadu-Edeoga ticket in the Labour Party was concocted since the minor party had grown due to Peter Obi's presidential campaign. However, the PDP was initially able to bring Ekweremadu and Edeoga back to the party with both releasing public statements accepting the primary results; but dynamics then shifted when Ekweremadu was arrested and detained in the United Kingdom for an organ-harvesting conspiracy while Edeoga ended up joining the Labour Party to become its nominee.^[73]

As the campaign continued into August 2022, analysts noted the competing region-based claims for the right to contest the election along with the added factor of Ugwuanyi's senatorial candidacy for the Enugu North district.^[74][75][76] The next month, reporting on the continued state APC internal crisis revealed such extreme infighting that it pundits argued the rival blocs focused more on internal power than electoral performance.^[77][76] Nnaji even rejected campaign contributions from APC presidential nominee Bola Tinubu and claimed that disputes over those incoming funds were a driver of the internal crisis.^[78] By September, multiple reports had classified Edeoga as a major candidate due to the Labour Party's growth and reported anger towards the long-governing state PDP (especially in the region around Nsukka).^[79] However, in November, Edeoga's nomination was nullified by a court ruling;^[10] the LP initiated an appeal instead of holding a new primary and the nullification was overturned by an Appeal Court ruling in early January.^[80][11]

By February, attention mainly switched to the presidential election on 25 February. In the election, Enugu State voted for Peter Obi (LP); Obi won the state with 93.9% of the vote, beating Atiku Abubakar (PDP) at 3.5% and Bola Tinubu (APC) at 1.1%. Although the result was unsurprising—Enugu is in Obi's southeastern stronghold and projections had favored him—the result led to increased attention on the chances of both Edeoga and Nweke, especially considering the overall decline of the state PDP. Although Edeoga was the LP nominee and received Obi's endorsement, some elements of LP supporters balked at Edeoga's former association with Ugwuanyi in addition to his unpopular time as Environment Commissioner and instead backed Nweke.^[81][82] Based on these dynamics, the EiE-SBM forecast projected Nweke to win.^[83] On the other hand, a Premium Times article labeled the election as a "two-horse race" between Edeoga and Mbah.^[84]

• 2023 Nigerian elections
• 2023 Nigerian gubernatorial elections