2023 Kwara State gubernatorial election

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Registered1,695,927
Turnout27.88%
2023 Kwara State gubernatorial election
← 2019
18 March 2023
2027 →
Opinion polls
Registered1,695,927
Turnout27.88%
 
PDP
SDP
Nominee AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi Hakeem Lawal
Party APC PDP SDP
Running mate Kayode Alabi Gbenga Peter Makanjuola Joshua Olayinka Olakunle
Popular vote 273,424 155,490 18,922
Percentage 59.38% 33.77% 4.11%
AbdulRazaq:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election

AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
APC

 Elected Governor

AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
APC

The 2023 Kwara State gubernatorial election was held on 18 March 2023, to elect the incumbent Governor of Kwara State, concurrent with elections to the Kwara State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly.[1][2] The election — which was postponed from its original 11 March date — was held three weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections.[3] Incumbent AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (APC) was re-elected by a 25.6% margin over PDP nominee Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi.[4]

The primaries, scheduled for between 4 April and 9 June 2022, resulted in AbdulRazaq being renominated by the All Progressives Congress unopposed on 26 May while the Peoples Democratic Party nominated Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi on 25 May.[5][6] For the Social Democratic Party, its first primary on 25 May was annulled leading to a rerun on 30 May; both primaries were won by Hakeem Lawal.[7]

The day after the election, INEC declared AbdulRazaq as the victor with him winning about 273,000 votes (~59% of the vote) to defeat Abdullahi with around 155,000 votes (~34% of the vote) while Lawal trailed in third place with nearly 19,000 votes (~4% of the vote).[4] Abdullahi alleged electoral irregularities but did not initiate a legal challenge to the results.[8]

The governor of Kwara 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.

Background

Kwara State is a large state in the North Central with a growing economy and vast natural areas but facing agricultural underdevelopment, deforestation, and insecurity.[9][10] The state's 2019 elections had a large swing towards the state APC. Although the APC had won most 2015 elections in Kwara, the vast majority of APC officeholders left the party in 2018 to follow Senator Bukola Saraki into the PDP; despite the Saraki dynasty's longstanding control over Kwaran politics, the APC-led Ó Tó Gẹ́ movement swept the state in 2019. The APC won all three senate seats back and in the process, defeated Saraki by a wide margin. Similarly, the APC gained five PDP-held House seats to sweep all House of Representatives elections. On the state level, the APC gained the governorship and all but one seat in the House of Assembly. These results, coupled with presidential incumbent Muhammadu Buhari (APC) winning the state with nearly 70%, led to the categorization of the 2019 elections as a seismic shift in the state's politics.

During AbdulRazaq's 2019 campaign, he based pledges on improving government transparency, rehabilitating transportation, and gender inclusivity among others.[11] In terms of his performance, AbdulRazaq was praised for education policy, healthcare investment, appointing Nigeria's first majority-women state cabinet, and social investment programmes.[12][13][14][15] On the other hand, he was criticized for mishandling the demolition of a Saraki family property, alleged ethnic and regional prejudice when making a KWASU appointment, illegally dismissing elected local government chairmen and failing to conduct constitutionally-mandated local government elections, and raising the state debt.[16][17][18][19][20][21]

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.[2][22] According to some candidates and community leaders from the Northern district, an informal zoning gentlemen's agreement sets the Kwara North Senatorial District to have the next governor as since the 1999 return of democracy, all Kwara governors have come from either the Kwara Central or Kwara South Senatorial Districts.[23] In accordance with these calls, the PDP zoned its nomination to the North but the APC did not close its primary to non-Northerners and renominated AbdulRazaq, who is from Ilorin West in Kwara Central; the SDP nominated Hakeem Lawal from Ilorin East in the central district as well.

All Progressives Congress

The year prior to the APC primaries were beset by party infighting between two different party factions, one backed by ministers Lai Mohammed and Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki while the other was supported by incumbent Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.[24][25] The two factions held two separate parallel party congresses in late 2021 but as AbdulRazaq is a serving governor, his faction's congress was recognized as legitimate by the national party.[26][27] In the wake of the decision, a large number of Mohammed-Saraki faction supporters left the APC (mainly joining the Social Democratic Party).[28][29] Although neither Mohammed nor Saraki defected, analysts state that the defections have the potential to hurt the APC in the general election.[30][31] Another point of contention were the calls from Kwara North groups for the governorship to be zoned to their region; to combat those demands, prominent northern APC members like House of Assembly Speaker Yakubu Danladi-Salihu and Senator Suleiman Sadiq Umar held events to back AbdulRazaq's re-election bid.[32]

On 20 April 2022, the APC National Executive Committee announced the party's schedule for gubernatorial primaries, 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. Forms were to be sold from 26 April to 6 May until the deadline was later extended to 10 May then 12 May.[33] After the submission of nomination forms by 13 May, candidates were screened by a party committee on 14 and 15 May while 16 May was the date for the screening appeal process.[34] Ward congresses and LGA congresses were set for between 7 and 9 May to elect delegates for the primary. Candidates approved by the screening process advanced to a primary set for 26 May, in concurrence with other APC gubernatorial primaries; challenges to the result could be made the next day.[35][36][37][38]

On the primary date, AbdulRazaq was the sole candidate and won the nomination unanimously. In his acceptance speech, AbdulRazaq thanked delegates and the state at-large while pledging to continue the work of his administration.[5]

Nominated

Declined

Results

APC primary results[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
APC AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq 961 100.00%
Total votes 961 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 4 N/A
Turnout 965 Unknown

People's Democratic Party

In December 2021, Kwara PDP Publicity Secretary Tunde Asholu announced that the party had zoned their gubernatorial nomination to Kwara North Senatorial District.[42] A few months later, former Senate President Bukola Saraki (the de facto leader of the Kwara PDP) announced that the party nomination would be further micro-zoned to Edu, Moro, and Pategi LGAs; Saraki also announced that the candidates had agreed to use the consensus method for the gubernatorial primary.[43] The former was controversial as the only Governor to ever come from the Northern district, Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi, is from Edu and thus micro-zoning to the same area instead of Baruten and Kaiama LGAs was unpopular in those LGAs leading to extensive internal PDP strife; the controversy was compounded by an ethnic element as the Edu-Moro-Pategi area is majority-Nupe while Baruten and Kaiama are majority Baatonu and Bokobaru, respectively.[44][45][46][47] On the other hand, the consensus method was reaffirmed unanimously by the candidates on 13 April 2022 after a meeting with Saraki at his Abuja home.[48]

On 16 March 2022, the national PDP announced its gubernatorial primaries' schedule, setting its expression of interest form price at ₦1 million and the nomination form price at ₦20 million with a 50% discount for candidates between 25 and 30. Forms were to be sold until 1 April but the party later extended the deadline four times before reaching a final deadline of 22 April. After the submission of nomination forms by 25 April, candidates were screened by a party committee on 28 April while 2 May was the rescheduled date for the screening appeal process. Ward congresses were set for 29 April and LGA congresses were rescheduled for 10 May to elect delegates for the primary.[49] Candidates approved by the screening process advanced to a primary set for 25 May, in concurrence with all other PDP gubernatorial primaries; challenges to the result could be made in the following days.[50][51]

On the primary date, the three candidates contested an indirect primary that ended with Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi emerging as the party nominee after results showed him winning just over 90% of the delegates' votes. In his acceptance speech, Abdullahi vowed to win the general election and asked the party to unite around him.[6] On 17 June, Gbenga Peter Makanjuola—former House of Representatives member for Ekiti/Isin/Irepodun/Oke-ero—was selected as the deputy gubernatorial nominee.[52]

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Declined

Results

Candidates' vote share
  1. Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi (92.0%)
  2. Aliyu Ahman-Pategi (5.50%)
  3. Mohammed Gana Yisa (2.49%)
PDP primary results[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
PDP Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi 518 92.01%
PDP Aliyu Ahman-Pategi 31 5.50%
PDP Mohammed Gana Yisa 14 2.49%
Total votes 563 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 11 N/A
Turnout 574 Unknown

Social Democratic Party

In early 2022, large groups of APC members defected to the SDP after the APC internal party crisis.[28][29] After welcoming the new members, Kwara SDP leadership expressed confidence over the party's prospects in the general election;[59] however as the primary neared, zoning became an internal issue as Kwara North groups demanded the nomination be zoned to the North.[60] Further strife between longtime party members and new APC defectors descended into a full-blown party crisis as two separate state congresses were held in April 2022.[61]

The national SDP set its gubernatorial expression of interest form price at ₦1 million and its nomination form price at ₦15 million with a 50% discount for youth and free forms for women and candidates with disabilities while scheduling the primary for 25 May.[62]

On the initial primary date, one major candidate (House member Abdulganiyu Saka Cook Olododo) withdrew while the other six candidates continued to an indirect primary in Ilorin ending in Hakeem Lawal winning after announced results showed Lawal winning 54% of the delegates' votes.[63] However, runner-up Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem challenged the results to the national party which agreed to hold a rerun primary on 30 May. The rerun was also won by Lawal, with his 77% of the vote winning the nomination a second time.[7] Abdulraheem continued to protest before leaving the party to obtain the NNPP nomination.[64] In mid-July, Joshua Olayinka Olakunle—a pastor from Ora, Ifelodun LGA—was announced as Lawal's running mate.[65]

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Results

Annulled primary results
Candidates' vote share
  1. Hakeem Lawal (54.1%)
  2. Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem (26.2%)
  3. Tajudeen Abdulkadir Audu (16.4%)
  4. Other candidates (3.28%)
SDP original primary results[63]
Party Candidate Votes %
SDP Hakeem Lawal 33 54.10%
SDP Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem 16 26.23%
SDP Tajudeen Abdulkadir Audu 10 16.39%
SDP Sunday Babalola 2 3.28%
SDP Kale Belgore 0 0.00%
SDP Khaleel Bolaji 0 0.00%
Total votes 61 100.00%
Candidates' vote share
  1. Hakeem Lawal (77.4%)
  2. Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem (22.6%)
SDP rerun primary results[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
SDP Hakeem Lawal 606 77.39%
SDP Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem 177 22.61%
Total votes 783 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 8 N/A
Turnout 791 Unknown

Minor parties

Campaign

In the wake of the primaries, pundits reiterated the competitiveness of the general election while noting the continued defections from the APC to the SDP and the calls for zoning to the northern district, which only the PDP heeded.[74] Defections from the APC were seen as especially damaging for AbdulRazaq in the months after the 2022 Osun State gubernatorial election—divides in the Osun APC aided in the unseating of the APC incumbent as his internal opponents helped other parties;[75] however, it was also noted that the two main aggrieved APC members—Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed and Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki—appeared to have split with Mohammed supporters backing the Lawal while Saraki appears to have reconciled with her brother as her supporters backed the PDP.[76]

In July and August, the AbdulRazaq and Abdullahi campaigns were noted as being among several election campaigns that used the catastrophic Alanamu Market fire to hawk for votes.[77][78] The post-market fire campaign spots were seen of further proof that the Central District would be the battleground area for the election; later reporting in September focused on the fact that all major candidates other than Abdullahi are from the Central District. In turn, Abdullahi's native North District was considered safe for him while the South District was categorized as a battle between AbdulRazaq and Abdullahi.[79]

By October, AbdulRazaq began conducting town halls throughout the state alongside other elected officials. The PDP loudly protested the events, claiming that framing campaign events as "town hall meetings" by the governor was disingenuous while the use of public funds for the events was wasteful.[80] Later that month, pundits reiterated the potentially ruinous impact divides within the APC could have on AbdulRazaq's campaign.[81] The next month, on 7 November, the first public poll—conducted by NIO Polls and commissioned by the Anap Foundation—was released for the race with it showing a substantial lead for AbdulRazaq while Abdullahi and Lawal trailed in second and third, respectively.[82] Conversely, Adebola Bakare—the national secretary of the Nigerian Political Science Association—opined that the election was a tossup in late December 2022 with claims that Abdullahi was still winning his native northern region but now Lawal had gained in the southern region while AbdulRazaq was leading in the central region.[83]

By 2023, attention largely switched to the presidential election on 25 February. In the election, Kwara State voted for Bola Tinubu (APC); Tinubu won 56.1% of the vote to defeat Atiku Abubakar (PDP) at 29.1% and Peter Obi (LP) at 6.6%. Although the result was unsurprising as Kwara is in Tinubu's southwestern base and projections had favored him, the totals led to increased focus on AbdulRazaq campaign due to Tinubu's wide margin of victory. Gubernatorial campaign analysis in the wake of the presidential election noted unique regional and religious dynamics while reiterating the potential impact of the continued APC divides.[84] Despite the APC crisis, the EiE-SBM forecast projected AbdulRazaq to win based on "APC's sweep of the federal elections."[85]

Polling

Polling organisation/client Fieldwork
date		 Sample
size
PDP
SDP
 Others Undecided None/No response/Refused
AbdulRazaq
APC		 Abdullahi
PDP		 Lawal
SDP
NIO Polls for Anap Foundation October 2022 500 30% 11% 3% 3% 31% 22%[a]

Projections

Source Projection As of
Africa Elects[b][86] Likely AbdulRazaq 17 March 2023
Enough is Enough-
SBM Intelligence[c][85]		 AbdulRazaq 2 March 2023

Conduct

Electoral timetable

On 26 February 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission released the timetable, setting out key dates and deadlines for the election.[87] Months later on 27 May 2022, INEC made a slight revision to the timetable, allowing parties extra time to conduct primaries.[88]

  • 28 February 2022 – Publication of Notice of Election
  • 4 April 2022 – First day for the conduct of party primaries
  • 9 June 2022[d] – Final day for the conduct of party primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from them
  • 1 July 2022 – First day for submission of nomination forms to INEC via the online portal
  • 15 July 2022 – Final day for submission of nomination forms to INEC via the online portal
  • 12 October 2022 – Commencement of the official campaign period
  • 16 March 2023[e] – Final day of the official campaign period

General election

Results

2023 Kwara State gubernatorial election
Party Candidate Votes %
AA Dauda Salman Magaji
ADP Shina Hammed Oniye
APP Bamidele Olaitan Omotosho
AAC Ahmed Aliyu
ADC Joel Ayo
APM Motunrayo Deborah Jaiyeola
APC AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
LP Abdullahi Ibrahim
New Nigeria Peoples Party Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem
PDP Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi
PRP Abdulkareem Abiodun Mustapha
SDP Hakeem Lawal
YPP Waziri Yakubu Gobir
ZLP Danjuma Zakari Usman
Total votes 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes N/A
Turnout

By senatorial district

The results of the election by senatorial district.

Senatorial District AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
APC		 Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi
PDP		 Hakeem Lawal
SDP		 Others Total Valid Votes
Votes Percentage Votes Percentage Votes Percentage Votes Percentage
Kwara Central Senatorial District[f] 105,487 55.58% 70,151 36.96% 7,903 4.16% 6,243 3.29% 189,784
Kwara North Senatorial District[g] 93,950 64.16% 45,029 30.75% 4,871 3.33% 2,570 1.76% 146,420
Kwara South Senatorial District[h] 74,014 59.55% 40,310 32.43% 6,495 5.23% 3,475 2.80% 124,294
Totals 273,424 59.38% 155,490 33.77% 18,922 4.11% 12,661 2.75% 460,497
Percentage of the vote won by each major candidate by district.

AbdulRazaq
     50–60%      60–70%
Abdullahi
     30–40%

By federal constituency

The results of the election by federal constituency.

Federal Constituency AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
APC		 Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi
PDP		 Hakeem Lawal
SDP		 Others Total Valid Votes
Votes Percentage Votes Percentage Votes Percentage Votes Percentage
Asa/Ilorin West Federal Constituency[i] 61,414 55.00% 43,555 39.01% 2,901 2.60% 3,795 3.40% 111,665
Baruten/Kaiama Federal Constituency[j] 42,491 71.24% 14,284 23.95% 2,116 3.55% 756 1.27% 59,647
Edu/Moro/Pategi Federal Constituency[k] 51,459 59.30% 30,745 35.43% 2,755 3.17% 1,814 2.09% 86,773
Ekiti/Isin/Irepodun/Oke-ero Federal Constituency[l] 32,728 58.89% 19,055 34.29% 2,579 4.64% 1,215 2.19% 55,577
Ilorin East/Ilorin South Federal Constituency[m] 44,073 56.42% 26,596 34.05% 5,002 6.40% 2,448 3.13% 78,119
Offa/Oyun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency[n] 41,286 60.08% 21,255 30.93% 3,916 5.70% 2,260 3.29% 68,717
Totals 273,424 59.38% 155,490 33.77% 18,922 4.11% 12,661 2.75% 460,497
Percentage of the vote won by each major candidate by constituency.

AbdulRazaq
     50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Abdullahi
     <30%      30–40%

By local government area

The results of the election by local government area.

LGA AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
APC		 Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi
PDP		 Hakeem Lawal
SDP		 Others Total Valid Votes Turnout Percentage
Votes Percentage Votes Percentage Votes Percentage Votes Percentage
Asa[91][92] 14,946 53.56% 11,183 40.07% 953 3.41% 825 2.96% 27,907 33.05%
Baruten[93][94] 28,060 74.09% 7,987 21.09% 1,492 3.94% 335 0.88% 37,874 25.83%
Edu[93][94] 22,485 54.40% 17,378 42.05% 374 0.90% 1,094 2.65% 41,331 38.33%
Ekiti[92] 6,836 58.94% 4,273 36.84% 170 1.47% 319 2.75% 11,598 26.92%
Ifelodun[92] 17,599 60.67% 9,085 31.32% 1,559 5.38% 763 2.63% 29,006 22.56%
Ilorin East[92] 23,925 56.74% 14,500 34.38% 2,645 6.27% 1,100 2.61% 42,170 26.62%
Ilorin South[92] 20,148 56.05% 12,096 33.65% 2,357 6.56% 1,348 3.75% 35,949 22.81%
Ilorin West[93][94] 46,468 55.48% 32,372 38.65% 1,948 2.33% 2,970 3.55% 85,736 31.33%
Irepodun[92] 12,860 56.57% 7,614 33.49% 1,693 7.45% 566 2.49% 22,733 25.84%
Isin[92] 5,274 55.88% 3,400 36.02% 567 6.01% 197 2.09% 9,438 22.80%
Kaiama[93][94] 14,431 66.28% 6,297 28.92% 624 2.87% 421 1.93% 21,773 25.54%
Moro[92] 15,161 61.97% 6,823 27.89% 1,992 8.14% 490 2.00% 24,466 30.53%
Offa[92] 14,696 62.45% 6,705 28.50% 1,289 5.48% 841 3.57% 23,531 24.62%
Oke Ero[92] 7,758 65.70% 3,768 31.91% 149 1.26% 133 1.13% 11,808 27.18%
Oyun[92] 8,991 55.57% 5,465 33.78% 1,068 6.60% 656 4.05% 16,180 26.81%
Pategi[92] 13,813 65.85% 6,544 31.20% 389 1.85% 230 1.10% 20,976 32.19%
Totals 273,424 59.38% 155,490 33.77% 18,922 4.11% 12,661 2.75% 460,497 27.88%
Percentage of the vote won by each major candidate by LGA. Turnout Percentage by LGA

AbdulRazaq
     50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Abdullahi
     <30%      30–40%      40–50%
Turnout
     <30%      30–40%


See also

Notes

References

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