2023 Nigerian Senate elections in Kwara State

2023 Nigerian Senate elections in Kwara State

← 2019 25 February 2023 2027 →
All 3 Kwara State seats in the Senate of Nigeria
Majority party   Party APC Last election 3 Seats before 3
APC incumbent retiring or lost renomination      APC incumbent running for re-election

The 2023 Nigerian Senate elections in Kwara State was held on 25 February 2023, to elect the 3 federal Senators from Kwara State, one from each of the state's three senatorial districts. The elections coincided with the 2023 presidential election, as well as other elections to the Senate and elections to the House of Representatives; with state elections being held two weeks later. Primaries were held between 4 April and 9 June 2022.

Background

In the previous Senate elections, none of the three incumbent senators returned,

Overview

Summary

Kwara Central

The

Before the primary, pundits noted five major candidates: incumbent Oloriegbe, Abdulfatai Yahaya Seriki, Saliu Mustapha, Yinka Aluko and former Senator Khairat Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe—the sister of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Aluko and Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe withdrew prior to the primary.^[12] On the primary date, the exercise held in Ilorin and resulted in the nomination of Mustapha as Seriki and Oloriegbe came second and third place, respectively.^[13] In June, Oloriegbe admitted to bribing delegates and receiving refunds from those that did not vote for him;^[14] leaked audio from Oloriegbe also revealed that he blamed Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for the loss and refused to campaign for AbdulRazaq's re-election.^[15]

People's Democratic Party

Initially the PDP primary was overshadowed by rumours that former Senator (and de facto Kwara PDP leader) Bukola Saraki would run for the seat again. When he instead announced a presidential run, four candidates purchased forms—former minister Bolaji Abdullahi, Sarat Adebayo, Abubakar Kawu Baraje, and Abubakar Amuda-Kannike; however, the Saraki rumours still dominated the primary conversation as observers questioned if Saraki would still run for Senate as a backup plan if unsuccessful in his presidential bid.^[12] In early April, Saraki and other Kwara PDP leadership effectively guaranteed Abdullahi would become nominee by zoning the nomination to his LGA—Ilorin West;^[22] the move was made official later that month when the other aspirants withdrew and backed Abdullahi as the "consensus" pick.^[23] On the primary date, Abdullahi was nominated via affirmation.^[24] Despite the rumours, Saraki did not drop to the senatorial race after losing the PDP presidential primary and thus Abdullahi remained the nominee.

Campaign

After the primaries, nominations showed that the general election would be the first election in the district since 1999 to not have a Saraki on the ballot. For the general election campaign, observers noted the Saraki family's past strength in the district as a potential boost for Abdullahi, a Saraki loyalist, but also pointed out Bukola Saraki's substantial loss in 2019. For Mustapha and SDP nominee Ridwanullahi Apaokagi, pundits claimed the defections from the APC to the SDP could help Apaokagi despite his party's relatively small size.^[25] In July and August, the Mustapha and Abdullahi campaigns were noted as being among several election campaigns that used the catastrophic Alanamu Market fire to hawk for votes.^[26][27] Later analysis noted Oloriegbe's anger at Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq over the primary result as a potential harm to Mustapha's campaign while his traditional title of the Turaki Ilorin could boost his candidacy.^[28][29] In December 2022, reporting from The Nation identified the closeness of the race while noting the effect of Suleiman Makanjuola Ajadi (ADC).^[30]

General election

Results

Kwara North

The

On the primary date, two candidates contested an indirect primary that ended with Umar's renomination over Tauheed Daudu Toyin by a significant margin.^[13]

People's Democratic Party

Unlike nearly every other Kwara PDP primary, the North senatorial primary was not decided using the consensus method as former MHR

In a December 2022 senate campaign analysis piece, The Nation reporters categorized the election as a threeway race between Umar, Bawa, and Jiya (NNPP).^[30]

General election

Results

Kwara South

The

Before the primary, pundits noted three major candidates: incumbent Ashiru, MHR Raheem Olawuyi, and Suleiman Makanjuola Ajadi.^[12] On the primary date, the indirect primary ended with Ashiru winning renomination after results showed him defeating Olawuyi by a narrow four vote margin.^[13]

People's Democratic Party

Like in Kwara Central, the state PDP organized a process to find a "consensus" nominee; however, Saraki and other PDP leadership effectively guaranteed the nomination to former Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim by zoning the nomination to his LGA—Oyun—in early April.^[22] Thus the process resulted in Ibrahim being selected as the "consensus" pick.^[36] On the primary date, Ibrahim was nominated via affirmation.^[24]

General election

Results

Notes