2023 gubernatorial election in Kogi State, Nigeria
The 2023 Kogi State gubernatorial election was held on 11 November 2023 to elect the Governor of Kogi State. Incumbent APC Governor Yahaya Bello was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term in office. Ahmed Usman Ododo — a former state Auditor-General for Local Government — retained the office for the APC by a margin of 24% over first runner-up and SDP nominee Murtala Ajaka.
The primaries were scheduled for between 27 March and 17 April 2022 with the All Progressives Congress nominating Ododo on 15 April while the Peoples Democratic Party nominated former Senator for Kogi West Dino Melaye on 16 April. On 20 May, Ajaka — a former APC aspirant and national APC official — won the nomination of the Social Democratic Party in a rerun primary.
After collation completed on the day after the election, INEC declared Ododo as the victor. In the official results, Ododo gained over 446,000 votes (~57% of the vote) to defeat Ajaka with about 259,000 votes (33% of the vote) and Melaye with about 46,000 votes (~6% of the vote). The results were immediately rejected by the runners-up due to widespread reports of irregularities, with candidates and media focusing attention upon three central LGAs — Adavi, Okehi, and Okene — where both the turnout (83.9%) and Ododo vote share (97.1%) were extremely high. Although he initially stated that he would not challenge the results due to distrust in INEC and the judiciary, Ajaka ultimately filed legal petitions against the election. The legal case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which upheld the election of Ododo in a ruling in August 2024.
Electoral system.
The Governor of Kogi 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 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.
Kogi State is a diverse state in the North Central with a large number of mineral resources but facing an underdeveloped agricultural sector, deforestation, and low vaccination rates.
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 nominee 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 with 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, will take place between 27 March and 17 April 2022. While no formal zoning agreement is 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 beforehand. 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 by claiming that Kogi East Senatorial District held the office for over four terms and thus Kogi Central should as well.
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 waning control of the state party.
Emerged Winner.
Ahmed Usman Ododo won the election and emerged flagbearer of the party for the election.
People's Democratic Party.
Emerged Winner.
Dino Melaye won the election and emerged flagbearer of the party. 
References.
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