The 2023 Nigerian general election will be held, in large part, on 25 February and 11 March 2023. The

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

will be

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

on 25 February, with incumbent President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 A ...

ineligible to run, being term-limited. Additionally, there will also be elections on the same day for the Senate and the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. On 11 March, twenty-eight gubernatorial elections will be held alongside elections to state houses of assembly in all 36 states. Two additional gubernatorial elections will be held later in the year alongside potential rerun elections for regularly scheduled elections annulled from earlier in the year.

Electoral system

The President of Nigeria is elected using a modified

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive a majority of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least 24 of the 36 states. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round will be held. The 109 members of the Senate are elected from 109 single-seat constituencies (three in each state and one for the

Federal Capital Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

) by first-past-the-post voting. The 360 members of the

are also elected by

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

in single-member constituencies. Similarly to the president, Governors are elected using a modified

. 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 A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

. 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. The 991 members of the state Houses of Assembly are elected using

in single-member constituencies.

Federal elections

Presidential election

All Progressives Congress primary

With President Muhammadu Buhari having been elected to the office of president twice, he is ineligible for reelection. In July 2021, national APC Caretaker Chairman and Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni backed the consensus method of nominating a presidential candidate instead of the more common direct or indirect primary methods. There is no announced formal zoning agreement for the APC nomination, however, there have been calls from certain politicians and interest groups such as the Southern Governors' Forum to zone the nomination to the South as Buhari, a Northerner, was elected twice.

People's Democratic Party primary

In October 2021, newly-elected PDP Chairman

Iyorchia Ayu Iyorchia Ayu (born 15 November 1952) is a Nigerian politician; he is the current Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee. A former Nigerian Senator, he was elected President of the Senate during the Nigerian Thi ...

backed the indirect primary method of nominating a presidential candidate instead of the direct or consensus methods. There was zoning agreement for the PDP nomination despite calls from politicians and interest groups such as the Southern Governors' Forum to zone the nomination to the South as the APC's Buhari, a Northerner, was elected twice. The party held its indirect presidential primary on 28 May 2022 and nominated

Atiku Abubakar Atiku is a given name and surname. It may refer to: Given name * Atiku Abubakar (born 1946), Nigerian politician and businessman, Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 *Atikur Rahman Mallik, Bangladeshi film editor Middle name * Abubakar Ati ...

—its 2019 nominee and former

National Assembly elections

Senate elections

All 109 seats in the

Senate of Nigeria The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly of Nigeria. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's highest legislature, whose power is to make laws, is summarized in chapt ...

will be up for election alongside the presidential and House of Representatives elections on 25 February 2023.

House of Representatives elections

All 360 seats in the

House of Representatives of Nigeria The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Nigeria's bicameral National Assembly. The Senate is the upper chamber. The House of Representatives has 360 members who are elected in single-member constituencies using the plurality ( ...

will be up for election alongside the presidential and Senate elections on 25 February 2023.

State elections

Gubernatorial elections

Elections will hold for the governorships of thirty of the 36 states of Nigeria. All but two will be held on 11 March 2023, while the

Kogi State Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to t ...

and

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is one of the states in the South-South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. Yena ...

elections will both hold later in 2023.

House of Assembly elections

Elections will be held for the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

of all 36 states of Nigeria on 11 March 2023.

Notes

References

{{Nigerian elections

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...