2023 Benue State gubernatorial election

The 2023 Benue State gubernatorial election will take place on 11 March 2023, to elect the Governor of Benue State, concurrent with elections to the Benue State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly.[1][2] It will be held two weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections. Incumbent PDP Governor Samuel Ortom is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third term.

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

Samuel Ortom
PDP

 Elected Governor

TBD
TBD

Electoral system

The governor of Benue 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

Benue State is a diverse, agriculture-based state in the Middle Belt; although it is nicknamed the "Food Basket of the Nation" and has vast natural resources, Benue has faced challenges in security as inter-ethnic violence and conflict between herders and farmers heavily affect the state. The overproliferation of weaponry and increased pressure for land along with failures in governance led to the worsening of these clashes in the years ahead of the election.[3]

Politically, Benue's 2019 elections were categorized as a swing back towards the PDP in the aftermath of Ortom's 2018 defection back to the party. On the federal level, PDP nominee Atiku Abubakar narrowly won the state after Buhari had won it in 2015; legislatively, the PDP swept all three Senate seats and won seven House of Representatives seats. Statewise, Ortom won re-election by over 10% of the vote and the PDP won a majority in the House of Assembly.

During its second term, the Ortom administration's stated focuses included economic growth, stopping herder-farmer and ethnic conflicts, and infrastructural development. In terms of his performance, Ortom was commended for his proposals to end herder-farmer conflicts while being criticized for deflecting responsibility for insecurity, the initial failure of a 2019 peace meeting between Tiv and Jukun groups, a flawed COVID-19 response, his brief early 2021 spat with Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed which descended into ethnic gibes, a corrupt land grab, and his perceived obsession with picking fights with the federal government.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Primary elections

The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results, will take place between 4 April and 3 June 2022.[2] Arguments over an informal zoning gentlemen's agreement have led to disputes over whether it is the turn of the Jechira Tiv in Benue North-West Senatorial District, the Kwande Tiv in Benue North-East Senatorial District, and the Idoma in Benue South Senatorial District. The Jechira Gubernatorial Movement claims right to the governorship as they are the only Tiv subgroup to never have a Governor complete a term, some Kwande people claim right to the governorship as some activists count the Jechira Governor Moses Adasu's shortened term and thus the rotation between Tiv subgroups would start again with the Kwande, and Idoma groups claim right to the governorship as no Idoma has ever held the office.[13][14][15]

All Progressives Congress

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.[16][17][18]

Declared

People's Democratic Party

On 3 February 2021, Governor Samuel Ortom ordered all his appointees to suspend their gubernatorial campaigns or resign; this directive applied to his Chief of Staff Terwase Orbunde, who had announced his run for Governor on 7 January.[28] Orbunde suspended his campaign on 7 February.[29] Ortom later directed any appointees preparing to run in a 2023 election to resign by 30 September; on that day, five appointees resigned with three (Orbunde, Water Resources Commissioner Dondo Ahire, and Education Commissioner Dennis Ityavyar) intending to run for governor.[30]

On 11 July 2021, Ortom said that the Benue PDP would decide whether to zone their nomination to either Benue South or Benue North-East.[31] This statement was a few days before meeting with PDP gubernatorial aspirants on 16 July.[32] But in early April 2022, the state party zoned its nomination to two local government areas: Vandeikya in the North-East and Otukpo in the South with the goal of southern and north-eastern party leaders agreeing on one candidate each who would then face each other in the primary. Reportedly, the southern candidate is Deputy Governor Benson Abounu while the north-eastern candidate will be chosen sometime in April.[33][34] Although reports stated that there was an internal rift in the Benue PDP over the north-eastern candidate as Ortom (who has publicly come out in favor of a north-eastern Tiv nominee instead of a southern Idoma nominee) backed Ityavyar while PDP National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu supported Assembly Speaker Titus Uba, party stakeholders eventually reached a decision on 18 April when it was announced that Uba would be the north-eastern candidate.[35][36] However, the arrangement was controversial as some candidates derided the process as undemocratic and lacking in transparency.[37]

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.[38] 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.[39][40]

Declared

Withdrew

Potential

See also

References
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