2023 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTIONS: HOW ELECTIONS WERE WON AND LOST IN STATES

The 2023 governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections may have concluded and winners declared in the majority of the federation's states, but many questions remain unanswered.

The ability of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct free, fair, and credible elections is one of the most pressing concerns.

The majority of Nigerians, international communities, non-governmental organizations, international and local observers of the 2023 general elections have expressed profound dissatisfaction with the process that has produced new leaders to guide the country for the next four years.

For example, no fewer than 20 people were feared killed during the governorship and houses of assembly elections across the country due to violence, voter suppression, and apathy.

These people were victims of electoral violence in Delta, Lagos, Rivers, Cross River, Niger, Akwa Ibom, Osun, and Benue states, among other places, where politicians used every means possible to keep power or install stooges.

It was a do-or-die situation in most states, including Rivers, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Abia, Enugu, Delta, and Adamawa, where incumbents fought their final battles to maintain control of their states, either as governors or ex-governors.

In Lagos, the ruling party was said to have planted thugs in every nook and cranny of the state, easily overrunning the security architecture supposedly put in place by the State Police Command and other sister agencies.

These people were victims of electoral violence in Delta, Lagos, Rivers, Cross River, Niger, Akwa Ibom, Osun, and Benue states, among others, where politicians used every means at their disposal to maintain power or install stooges.

Most states, including Rivers, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Abia, Enugu, Delta, and Adamawa, saw incumbents fight their final battles to keep control of their states, either as governors or ex-governors.

Speaking ahead of the March 18, 2023 election, a Lagos State APC chieftain, Biodun Ajiboye, admitted that the Labour Party and the Obidient Movement caught his party architecture off guard and shook their political foundation in the presidential election, vowing that this will never happen again in the governorship and state assembly elections. And the proposed method of preventing a second defeat turned out to be brutalizing hundreds of voters, including celebrities, destroying their property and preventing them from exercising their civic duty of voting.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared APC candidate Babajide Sanwo-Olu the election winner.

According to the electoral umpire, Sanwo-Olu received 762,134 votes, defeating the Labour Party's Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who received 312,329 votes, and Abdulazeez Adeniran of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who received 62,449 votes.

In Rivers State, the PDP candidate, Similanayi Fubara, who was appointed by incumbent Governor Nyesom Wike, was declared the winner of the governorship election despite allegations of intimidation and vote suppression.

Electoral matters were allegedly transferred to the homes of top politicians in Ikwerre Local Government Area, with no fewer than 22 Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines missing in the State.

During the state elections, three people were killed in Ogbakiri community, Emohua LGA of the state, when gunmen invaded Elibrada Community and began shooting sporadically, as confirmed by the Chairman of the APC in the area, Chief Emeka Beke.

However, INEC announced on Monday night in Port Harcourt that Fubara received 302,614 votes, defeating his closest rival, Pastor Tonye Cole, who received 95,274 votes.

Suspected ballot box snatchers were gunned down at a polling unit in Benue State's Gboko Local Government Area, while another was shot when they attempted to snatch a ballot box at a polling unit in Gboko South. However, a candidate from the state's main opposition party, the APC, went on to defeat the incumbent PDP, with a suspended Roman Catholic priest, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, being declared the election winner.

Prof Faruq Kuta, the state INEC Returning Officer, announced that Alia received 473, 933 votes, defeating the PDP candidate, Titus Uba, who received 223,913 votes in the hotly contested election.

Governor Samuel Ortom, a member of the G-5 Governors, is one of the biggest losers in the 2023 general election after losing his senatorial bid during the presidential and National Assembly elections; he was unable to install his preferred candidate in the state's number one seat.

Suspected ballot box snatchers were shot at a polling unit in Benue State's Gboko Local Government Area, and another was shot when attempting to snatch a ballot box at a polling unit in Gboko South. However, a candidate from the state's main opposition party, the APC, went on to defeat the incumbent PDP, with Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, a suspended Roman Catholic priest, being declared the election winner.

"In total, 25.3 percent of observers noted vote buying at their polling units across the country, with the highest figures reported in the northwest (35.4 percent) and southeast (41.4 percent)," it said.

The US also expressed concern about voter intimidation and increased violence during the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the United States condemned the increased violence and intimidation that marred elections in 28 and 36 states, respectively, when compared to the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 25.

According to reports, the increased violence and intimidation during the election. Alhaji Yahaya Ndu, founder of the African Renaissance Party and Director of the Institute for African Renaissance Studies and Realisation, believes Nigerians are delusory.

According to him, "The election was rubbish in my opinion. We're just fooling ourselves." He noted that all the people who contested for Lagos governorship election for instance, want the best for the state. Ndu wondered why Nigerians at this stage should be fighting and killing themselves over elections."

"We're allowing ourselves to be used by the West," he added.

"We're allowing ourselves to be used by the West," he added.

Meanwhile, the INEC only declared the winner of the governorship elections in Abia and Enugu States on Wednesday, five days after the polls closed.

The LP's Alex Otti was declared the winner of the Abia state governorship election, defeating the PDP's Okey Ahiwe.

The people of Enugu State had to wait several hours after his declaration before Peter Mbah of the PDP was declared the winner of the elections.

Following a review, the Nsukka result was upheld, while some of the Nkanu East results were cancelled. Mbah, on the other hand, came out on top and was declared the winner.

With 26 states declared, all eyes are now on Adamawa and Kebbi States, where elections are still ongoing.