2023 Nasarawa State gubernatorial election
The 2023 Nasarawa State gubernatorial election will take place on 11 March 2023, to elect the Governor of Nasarawa State, concurrent with elections to the Nasarawa State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly. The election will be held two weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections. Incumbent APC Governor Abdullahi Sule is eligible to run for re-election, but has not yet stated whether he will do so. The primaries will be scheduled for late 2022 or early 2023 . Electoral system. The Governor of Nasarawa 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. Nasarawa State is a large state in the North Central with vast natural areas and a improving  health sector but facing underdeveloped agriculture and intense challenges in security as the nationwide kidnapping epidemic, inter-ethnic violence, and herder–farmer clashes have all heavily affected the state. Politically, the state's 2019 elections had a significant swing towards the state APC. In federal elections, Buhari gained the state for the APC while the APC swept all senate seats by gaining two PDP-held seats. Similarly, the APC gained one PDP-held House of Representatives seat, held the governorship, and kept the majority in the House of Assembly. Ahead of his term, Sule pledged to complete the previous administration 's projects, further rural electrification, and rehabilitate transportation infrastructure. In terms of his performance, Sule was praised for providing financial autonomy to local government areas but criticized for failing to follow through on promises. Primary elections. The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results, will take place between 4 April and 3 June 2022. 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. People's Democratic Party. Analysts view the PDP gubernatorial primary as a likely contest between two major internal party groupings, the group led by former senator Solomon Ewuga and another group led by state party chairman Francis Orogu. In April 2022, the Ewuga-led group met in Abuja with the goal of consolidating behind one candidate and reportedly settled on attempting to coax former minister Labaran Maku into to the party to back his candidacy; later that month, Maku did rejoin the PDP after eight years in APGA. Around the  same time, the Orogu-led bloc also held a meeting to line up behind a single candidate with some sources stating that retired army general Nuhu Angbazo may have emerged as the bloc's candidate. To ensure party unity, Orogu held a meeting on 25 April with Maku, Angbazo, and David Ombugadu (the other major candidate) where all three committed to working together to unseat Sule irrespective of the primary winner. 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. 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.