The 2023 presidential election is less than 48 hours time. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cleared Tinubu, Atiku, and 16 other candidates for the presidential election. Four out of the 18 political parties with presidential candidates have been most vocal - Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, and Kwankwaso. As of June 2022, Nigerians started showing interest in the aspirants to emerge as flag bearers. By June to July 2022, preparations had begun for the 2023 presidential poll.
The final list of candidates in the different political parties was known, and the electorate started making their decisions on their choice of candidates across political parties. The presidential candidate of the APC won his party's primaries in June last year. Subsequently, candidates for the house of representatives emerged. A total of 3,122 candidates for the house of representatives slugged it out for their tickets for the party primaries and 109 senatorial seats.
A successful poll is the responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The electoral umpire releases a schedule of activities for senatorial, gubernatorial, and presidential elections well before the general elections. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ensures that the candidates, parties and its staffs adhere to the guidelines using the federal constituencies according to section 2 of the electoral act.
Months before June/July 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari had assented to the electoral act 2022. The signing of the electoral act 2022 gave direction to candidates for national elections and the election in terms of preparations.
The significance of July 2022 to the political parties was that many parties were ready with their candidates for the house of representatives for the 2023 general election. Some candidates such as Femi Gbajabiamila from Lagos state and Ado Doguwa from Kano state were contesting for another term in office in their federal constituencies under the 2022 electoral law as they had won their primaries, for another shot at the National Assembly.
On the other hand, some candidates will try their luck to become a National Assembly member for the first time. An example of such is Idiat Adebule of the APC, contesting Lagos West Senatorial District.
Getting started for the 2023 presidential election
After the signing of the electoral act 2022 in February 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari, INEC thereafter released a timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 elections. A few months later, most presidential candidates and their running mates had been known. As of June going into September 2022, the fever for the commencement of campaigns started building up. It should be emphasized that the conduct of the presidential election hinges on the provisions of the electoral act to the latter.
The commencement of campaigns in September 2022 for the 2023 general elections was not full of fanfare. The main two presidential candidates, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar began their campaigns by first studying the political atmosphere. More so, signs of campaigns became to be more conspicuous in October 2022.
Names and parties of the 18 presidential candidates
INEC made the list of presidential candidates for the 2023 elections known after the presidential primaries. The list of 2023 presidential candidates in Nigeria had both known and unknown names. Each presidential candidate believes that the 2023 presidency is theirs to grab.
Below is the list of 18 political parties and their candidates:
Accord (A) - Professor Christopher Imumulen
Action Alliance (AA) - AlMustapha Hamza
Action Democratic Party (ADP) - Sani Yabagi Yusuf
Action Peoples Party (APP) - Nnadi Charles Osita
African Action Congress (AAC) - Omoyele Sowore
African Democratic Congress (ADC) - Dumebi Kachikwu
All Progressives Congress (APC) - Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) - Professor Peter Umeadi
Allied Peoples Movement (APM) - Yusuf Mamman Dan Talle
Boot Party (BP) - Adenuga Sunday Oluwafemi
Labour Party (LP) - Mr. Peter Obi
National Rescue Movement (NRM) - Osakwe Felix Johnson
New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) - Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - Atiku Abubakar
Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) - Mr. Kola Abiola
Social Democratic Party (SDP) - Prince Adewole Adebayo
Young Progressive Party (YPP) - Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim
Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) - Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwu
A former PDP chieftain, Peter Obi left the PDP and opted for Labour Party. For the PDP, Atiku chose Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate. Some names of candidates validly elected as candidates and their running mates included: Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima of APC, as well as Omoyele Sowore and Magashi of AAC. Prior to October 2022, Peter Obi had made it known to his supporters that he wanted to have a shot at the 2023 presidency.
APC presidential candidate and list of PDP presidential aspirants 2023
The presidential election will hold on February 25, 2023. In the ruling APC, Tinubu emerged as flagbearer. The all progressives congress apc opined that it will defeat other political parties in the general elections. In addition, the APC's Shettima has been speaking with confidence that his party would come tops ever since he was picked as running mate to Tinubu. The main presidential aspirants of the PDP during the party's presidential primaries were Atiku, Wike and Tambuwal. Before Atiku won the PDP primaries, Peter Obi had already left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Based on the reality on ground in the PDP, Peter Obi knew he would not win the primaries. After Atiku won, he picked Ifeanyi Okowa as his vice presidential candidate and not Wike as his running mate. This issue generated chaos, which is believed to have led to the rivers state governor calling for the removal of the PDP national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.
As the election knocks in, the PDP is yet to put its house in order over internal wrangling.
Who will be Nigeria's next president in 2023?
No one can emphatically predict Nigeria's next president after the 2023 polls. Interestingly, of the 18 political parties, each party sees the final list of candidates for the polls and their running mates would ensure victory. The announcement of the winner will be a few days after the election based on guidelines of the electoral act. To many political analysts, one of Tinubu or Atiku would probably win. On the other hand, the presidential and vice presidential candidates of some other political parties are also making their marks felt with their strong online presence.
Some Nigerians think Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) respectively would come third and fourth. This is because Obi and Kwankwaso do not have enough candidates for the house of representatives, which will help push their campaigns to the grassroots. Even if some political parties do not win, the political future of the losers is still bright as long as they do not wait before the next election season.
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| President Muhammadu Buhari raises the hand of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu during an APC campaign rally |
This article was written exclusively for Naijaloveinfo
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