2023 Rivers State gubernatorial election

The 2023 Rivers State gubernatorial election will take place on 11 March 2023, to elect the Governor of Rivers State, concurrent with elections to the Rivers 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 will be held two weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections. Incumbent PDP Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third term.

2023 Rivers State gubernatorial election
11 March 2023
 
Party APC PDP
Governor before election

Ezenwo Nyesom Wike
PDP

 Elected Governor

TBD
TBD

Electoral system

The Governor of Rivers 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.

Primary elections

The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results, will take place between 4 April and 3 June 2022.[2] Leaders in ethnic groups like the Ogoni have called on parties to nominate a non-Ikwerre as Ikwerres have held the governorship since 2007.[3] Furthermore, despite making up a significant percentage of Rivers' population, no Ogoni person has ever held the governorship or deputy governorship, leading to calls for the formal zoning of party nominations to the Ogoni-majority Rivers South East Senatorial District. These calls, coupled with other claims that the governorship ought to rotate between upland and riverine areas, have led to pressure on parties to nominate someone from riverine areas or more specifically, Ogoni-majority areas.[4] However, no major party has yet closed their primaries to candidates from the other districts.[5]

All Progressives Congress

The long-running dispute between former Governor and federal Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and former Senator Magnus Abe which led to the Rivers APC's disqualification in 2019 has continued as their factions held separate party congresses and elected different leadership in 2021; national APC leadership later accepted the results of the Amaechi-supported congress as legitimate. As an extension of the party crisis, there have been disputes in the Rivers APC over the prospect of zoning the gubernatorial nomination as Amaechi is in favor of zoning to the South East while Abe is against making a zoning decision years before the primary.[5][6] By April 2022, it was clear that the party rift had not been bridged as Amaechi and his allies met to select a "consensus party nominee," settling on Tonye Cole who would have been the APC nominee in 2019 if the party was not disqualified.[7] While some aspirants agreed to the arrangement and dropped out, Abe and his allies made it clear that they did not recognize Cole as the party's choice with an Abe-aligned politician deriding Cole as simply "a business associate of" Amaechi.[8] There were also protests from others within the party that decried the opaque process and the choice of Cole as he has never held elected office and supposedly lacks political structures in the state.[9] Despite the objections, the party confirmed Cole as its consensus pick; although the press release noted that since the meeting was not a formal party process, Cole was not formally the party nominee.[10]

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 are to be sold from 26 April until 6 May; after the submission of nomination forms by 10 May, candidates are to be screened by a party committee on 12 May while 14 May is the date for the screening appeal process. Ward congresses and LGA congresses are set for between 7 and 9 May to elect delegates for the primary. Candidates approved by the screening process will advance to a primary set for 18 May, in concurrence with other APC gubernatorial primaries; challenges to the result can be made on 20 May.[11][12][13]

Declared

Withdrew

People's Democratic Party

Unlike the state APC, the Rivers PDP did not face much internal strife directly ahead of the party primary as Wike held direct control over much of the party. However, as the primary neared, struggles over the primary method and Wike's leadership style began to be unveiled from reports culminating in a large protest at the Rivers PDP secretariat on 13 April 2022.[18][19] A backer of the protest and intraparty Wike opponent, House of Representatives member Farah Dagogo was running for Governor until Wike accused Dagogo of sponsoring thugs to attack the party secretariat on 27 April and ordered the police to arrest him the day before PDP gubernatorial screening.[20] Dagogo, who had already bought and submitted forms to run in the primary, attempted to attend the mandatory party screening exercise on 28 April but was detained by police and held in jail indefinitely.[21] Dagogo's aides along with civil society groups decried the arrest as politically motivated and called for Dagogo's release.[22][23]

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 are to be screened by a party committee on 28 April while 2 May is the rescheduled date for the screening appeal process. Ward congresses are set for 29 April and LGA congresses are set for 5 May to elect delegates for the primary.[24] Candidates approved by the screening process will advance to a primary set for 21 May, in concurrence with all other PDP gubernatorial primaries; challenges to the result can be made on 24 May.[25][26]

Declared

Potential


See also

References
  1. Oyekanmi, Rotimi (26 February 2022). "It's Official: 2023 Presidential, National Assembly Elections to Hold Feb 25". INEC News. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  2. Jimoh, Abbas (26 February 2022). "INEC Sets New Dates For 2023 General Elections". Daily Trust. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  3. Naku, Dennis. "2023: Rivers monarch makes case for Ogoni gov". The Punch. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  4. Edozie, Victor (16 April 2022). "Rivers Gov'ship: 23 Eye Brick House". Daily Trust. Retrieved 16 April 2022. While some pundits say zoning is dead in Rivers State, others insist that the upland/riverine rotation is the only option on who occupies Brick House. The upland/riverine dichotomy had been an unwritten agreement between the upland and riverine parts of Rivers where the governorship position rotates between the two areas...The riverine communities of Rivers State are of the opinion that the next governor should come from there. A coalition of over 40 Community Based Organisations (CBOs) which goes by the name Rivers Unity Alliance (RUA) in collaboration with the South-South chiefs, elders and opinion leaders, recently launched its quest for the emergence of a governor of riverine extraction in Rivers State in 2023.
  5. Godwin, Ann. "Search for Wike's successor roils Rivers as Ogoni eyes 2023". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  6. Odufowokan, 'Dare. "Rivers 2023: Amaechi, Abe renew battle for soul of APC". The Nation. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  7. Naku, Dennis. "2023: Rivers APC picks Lagos-based bizman Tony Cole gov candidate". The Punch. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  8. Godwin, Ann. "Controversy as Rivers APC endorses Cole as governorship candidate". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  9. Odiegwu, Mike. "Cole: Can APC bounce back in Rivers?". The Nation. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  10. Odunsi, Wale. "Rivers guber: APC confirms Tonye Cole as consensus aspirant". Daily Post. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  11. Majeed, Bakare (20 April 2022). "UPDATED: 2023: APC fixes presidential forms for N100 million, adopts indirect primaries". Premium Times. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  12. Angbulu, Stephen; Ayeni, Victor; Dada, Peter; Naku, Dennis; Ede, Raphael (21 April 2022). "Presidential primary: APC silent on zoning, Nigerians condemn N100m nomination fee". The Punch. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  13. APC Nigeria [@OfficialAPCNg] (April 25, 2022). "OFFICIAL" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 April 2022 – via Twitter.
  14. Naku, Dennis. "2023: Ex-lawmaker Magnus Abe joins Rivers gov race". The Punch. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  15. Nwisi, Rosemary. "Dakuku, Cole, Princewill, George, six others join Rivers APC gov race". The Nation. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  16. Ugwu, Romanus (27 April 2022). "Rivers 2023: Mikko rejects consensus option, picks nomination forms". The Sun. Abuja. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  17. Itua, Fred. "Rivers APC guber consensus: Tonye Princewill concedes, backs Cole". The Sun. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  18. Odiegwu, Mike. "Wike and politics of succession in Rivers PDP". The Nation. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  19. Godwin, Ann; Nwaoku, Obinna (28 April 2022). "2023: Intrigues, emerging issues within Rivers PDP". The Guardian. Port Harcourt. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  20. Imukudo, Saviour. "Gov Wike declares PDP governorship aspirant wanted". Premium Times. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  21. Godwin, Ann; Nwaoku, Obinna; Osahon, Julius. "Police arrest guber aspirant, Dagogo, despite protest by Ijaw youths". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  22. Naku, Dennis. "Wike preparing murder, other charges against PDP Rivers gov aspirant, aide alleges". The Punch. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  23. SERAP [@SERAPNigeria] (April 30, 2022). "BREAKING: We condemn the arbitrary arrest of Mr Farah Dagogo reportedly on the orders of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, for exercising his rights. Mr Dagogo must be immediately and unconditionally released. We'll hold Mr Wike to account if Dagogo is not immediately released" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 May 2022 – via Twitter.
  24. Angbulu, Stephen (21 April 2022). "2023: PDP extends sale of forms for fourth time". The Punch. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  25. Yakubu, Dirisu (16 March 2022). "[BREAKING] 2023: PDP Presidential primary holds in May". Vanguard. Abuja. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  26. Akpan, Samuel (17 March 2022). "2023: PDP releases pre-election schedule, fixes presidential primary poll for May 28". TheCable. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  27. Naku, Dennis. "Wike's aides resign, 13 aspirants jostle for PDP ticket". The Punch. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  28. Odiegwu, Mike. "Cracks as Rivers PDP mulls consensus governorship candidate". The Nation. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  29. Odiegwu, Mike. "Rivers SSG joins 2023 governorship race". The Nation. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
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