List of Presidential Candidates, Political Parties and Running Mates
The citizens of Nigeria are yet to know the full list of people contesting for the presidential election that is coming up on the 25th of February 2023. So, we decide to list out the candidates and their running mates.
List of People Contesting for Presidential Election
On September 20th, 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which is responsible for organizing elections in Nigeria, released the final list of candidates running for the position of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The list was release along with their running mates and personal information. The release of the list followed the conclusion of the nomination process and political party primaries and was done in accordance with the Electoral Act 2022 and the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
Some of the notable candidates on the list include Omoyele Sowore (AAC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu (APC), Peter Obi (LP), and Atiku Abubakar (PDP), among others. The list includes 18 political parties and their presidential candidates for the upcoming election.
List of Candidate Contesting for Presidential Election
| S/N | Political Party | Presidential Candidate | Vice Presidential Candidate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Action Alliance (AA) | Al-Mustapha Hamza | Johnson Emmanuel Chukwuka |
| 2 | African Action Congress (AAC) | Sowore Omoyele | Magashi Haruna Garba |
| 3 | African Democratic Congress (ADC) | Kachikwu Dumebi | Buhari Muhammed Ahmed |
| 4 | Action Democratic Party (ADP) | Sani Yabagi Yusuf | Udo Okey Okoro |
| 5 | Accord Party (AP) | Imumolen Christopher | Bello Bala Maru |
| 6 | All Progressives Congress (APC) | Tinubu Bola Ahmed | Shettima Kashim |
| 7 | All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) | Umeadi Peter Nnanna | Mohammed Abdullahi Koli |
| 8 | Allied People’s Movement (APM) | Ojei Princess Chichi | Ibrahim Mohammed |
| 9 | Action Peoples Party (APP) | Nnamdi Charles Osita | Nnadi Charles Osita |
| 10 | Boot Party (BP) | Adenuga Sunday Oluwafemi | Mustapha Usman Turaki |
| 11 | Labour Party (LP) | Obi Peter Gregory | Baba Hammed Yusuf Datti |
| 12 | New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) | Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso | Odiri Idahosa Isaac |
| 13 | National Rescue Movement (NRM) | Osakwe Felix Johnson | Kyabo Yahaya Muhammad |
| 14 | Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) | Abubakar Atiku | Okowa Arthur Ifeanyi |
| 15 | Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) | Abiola Latifu Kolawole | Zego Haro Haruna |
| 16 | Social Democratic Party (SDP) | Adebayo Adewole Ebenezer | Buhari Yusuf |
| 17 | Young Progressives Party (YPP) | Ado-Ibrahim Abdumalik | Enyinna Micheal Kasarachi |
| 18 | Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) | Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwu | Abubakar Jibrin Ibrahim Ramalan |
2023 Presidential Election
The Nigerian presidential election is set to take place on February 25, 2023. The election will determine who will be the next president and vice president of Nigeria. The current president, Muhammadu Buhari, is not eligible to run for a third term due to term limits.
Other federal elections, including elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate, will also be held on the same date, while state elections will take place two weeks later on March 11. The winners of the election will be inaugurated on May 29, 2023.
Party primaries were held between April 4 and June 9, 2022. Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, was nominated as the presidential candidate for the People’s Democratic Party, while Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, was nominated as the presidential candidate for the All-Progressives Congress.
Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, was nominated as the presidential candidate for the Labour Party, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, was nominated as the presidential candidate for the New Nigeria Peoples Party. The running mates for the presidential candidates were also announced after the primaries.
The Electoral System of Nigeria
In Nigeria, the President is elected through a process called a modified two-round system. In the first round, if a candidate gets more votes than anyone else and at least 25% of the votes in 24 out of the 36 states, they win the election.
If no candidate meets this requirement, a second round of voting is held between the top two candidates – the one with the most votes and the one who got the most votes in the highest number of states.
2023 Primary Elections
Before the Nigerian presidential election, political parties have a process called “primaries” to choose their candidates. In Nigeria, there is an informal agreement that the next president should come from the southern part of the country.
They also said that the candidate who wins, his running mate should be from a different region and religion. However, most political parties did not officially make these rules. Must especially Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Before the primary, the two main political parties, the APC and PDP, had debates about whether they should follow these rules. The PDP decided not to follow the rule and nominated a northerner, Atiku Abubakar, as its candidate.
The APC also did not officially follow the rule, but later nominated a southerner, Bola Tinubu, as its candidate. The APC broke another rule by choosing a running mate with the same religion as Tinubu, while the PDP did not.
