The 2023 Lagos State gubernatorial election was held on 18 March 2023 to elect the Governor of Lagos State, concurrent with elections to the Lagos State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly. The election — which was postponed from its original 11 March date — was held three weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections. Incumbent APC Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was re-elected by a margin of 39% over first runner-up and LP nominee — Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
The primaries, scheduled for between 4 April and 9 June 2022, resulted in Sanwo-Olu being renominated by the All Progressives Congress unopposed on 26 May while the Peoples Democratic Party nominated Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran on 25 May. On 4 August, Rhodes-Vivour — who withdrew from the PDP primary in May — won the rerun primary of the Labour Party.
In the early morning of 20 March, INEC declared Sanwo-Olu as the winner amid protests due to considerable reports of alleged electoral irregularities, including voter suppression and fraud. The official totals showed Sanwo-Olu winning just over 762,000 votes (~66% of the vote) to defeat Rhodes-Vivour with about 312,000 votes (~27% of the vote) and Adediran, who won around 62,000 votes (~5% of the vote). Due to alleged irregularities, Rhodes-Vivour and Adediran rejected the results and filed a challenges at the electoral tribunal. The legal cases eventually reached the Supreme Court, which upheld the election of Sanwo-Olu in a January 2024 judgment.
Electoral system The Governor of Lagos 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 Lagos State is a highly populated, diverse southwestern state that is a major financial centre along with being a key culture, education, and transportation hub. Although it faces overcrowding and chronic debilitating traffic, it has grown to one of the largest economies in Africa.
Politically, the 2019 elections were a continuation of the state APC's control as presidential incumbent Muhammadu Buhari won the state by 12% and the party held all three senate seats while gaining in the House of Representatives elections. On the state level, the APC also retained its House of Assembly majority but the gubernatorial election was prefaced by the unprecedented defeat of incumbent Akinwunmi Ambode in the APC primary, marking the first time an incumbent Nigerian governor was defeated in a party primary. His primary challenger, Sanwo-Olu, went on to win the general election by a wide 54% margin.
Ahead of Sanwo-Olu's term, the aims for his administration were improving transportation, health and environment, education and technology, entertainment and tourism, economic modernization, and security. In terms of his performance, Sanwo-Olu was commended for economic and academic digitalization, road infrastructure repairs, urban renewal, his initial COVID-19 pandemic response, and some public transportation improvements. However, his administration was criticized for poor distribution of COVID-19 palliatives, the BRT and Lagos NURTW crises, poor financial management, and alleged corruption. Sanwo-Olu also came under fire for his handling of the October 2020 protest wave of the End SARS movement, most staunchly over the Lekki massacre when soldiers that Sanwo-Olu requested for crowd control killed multiple protesters along with the shooting's aftermath when the Sanwo-Olu administration rejected a judicial review panel’s report confirming the massacre and instead drafted a white paper denying any deaths.
Primary elections The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results, were to take place between 4 April and 3 June 2022 but the deadline was extended to 9 June.
All Progressives Congress Prior to the primary, some APC stakeholders called for Governor Sanwo-Olu to step down, as to allow a Muslim candidate to run since a Muslim would not have been elected Governor since 2011; however, others claimed Sanwo-Olu should be allowed to run for two terms before a Muslim candidate is nominated in 2027 and/or that Sanwo-Olu's first term should not be simply seen as an extension of former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode's term (especially as Ambode is from Lagos East while Sanwo-Olu is from Lagos Central). Another source of potential contention for Sanwo-Olu was his endorsement by the Lagos APC's Governance Advisory Council and its de facto leader, former Governor Bola Tinubu. The GAC is the most powerful state APC body and its endorsement of Sanwo-Olu carried him to victory in the 2019 primary but it delayed a decision on endorsing Sanwo-Olu in early 2022. The delay led to initial questions about if Tinubu and the GAC would back Sanwo-Olu's re-election bid but, despite the delay, the GAC endorsed Sanwo-Olu in April 2022. However, the endorsement was controversial in itself as supporters of other potential candidates decried it as 'undemocratic imposition' and a continuation of Tinubu's control of the state party.
On the primary date, controversy emerged over the sudden and belated disqualification of Sanwo-Olu's opponents—Abdul-Ahmed Olorunfemi Mustapha and Wale Oluwo—which left Sanwo-Olu unopposed. Oluwo noted that the screening committee never publicly submitted its report and Mustapha was physically prevent from entering the primary venue. As Sanwo-Olu was the sole candidate, he won the primary unanimously later on 26 May. In his acceptance speech, Sanwo-Olu thanked delegates while pledging to continue the work of his administration. While Mustapha and Oluwo initially rejected the primary and planned to challenge the results, they eventually declined to make a formal appeal.
Nominated Babajide Sanwo-Olu: Governor (2019–present) Running mate—Femi Hamzat: Deputy Governor (2019–present)
Disqualified by screening committee Abdul-Ahmed Olorunfemi Mustapha: former civil servant Wale Oluwo: former Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources
Declined Abdulhakeem Abdullateef: former Commissioner for Home Affairs (2015–2019) Tokunbo Abiru: Senator for Lagos East (2020–present) and former Commissioner for Finance (2011–2013) Akinwunmi Ambode: former Governor (2015–2019) Tayo Ayinde: Chief of Staff (2019–present) Femi Gbajabiamila: House of Representatives member for Surulere I (2003–present) and Speaker of the House of Representatives (2019–present) Femi Hamzat: Deputy Governor (2019–present), 2015 APC gubernatorial candidate, and former Commissioner for Science and Technology Hakeem Muri-Okunola: State Head of Service (2018–present) Seyi Tinubu: CEO of Loatsad Promomedia and son of former Governor of Lagos State Bola Tinubu
Results
People's Democratic Party Ahead of the primary, candidate Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran and his Lagos4Lagos Movement defected from the APC to the PDP at a rally attended by several PDP incumbent governors and the party National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu. Analysts stated that the rally gave the appearance of national party support for Adediran's candidacy; however, five other candidates joined the primary race in the months after the defection. Another note for the party were the years of internal crises that rocked the Lagos PDP, but the dispute was settled by early 2022.
On the primary date, four candidates withdrew while the other two candidates continued to an indirect primary in Ikeja that ended in Adediran emerging as the party nominee after results showed him winning over 97% of the delegates' votes. The only other candidate to go to the primary, David Kolawole Vaughan, accepted the results and pledged to support Adediran while Adediran promoted a conciliatory tone with aims of uniting the party ahead of the general election. The weeks after the primary were dominated by the search for Adediran's running mate, with the party forming a shortlist of five: Funke Akindele, Teslim Balogun, Kolawole Vaughan, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and Yeye Shobajo. On 12 July, Akindele—an actor and film producer—was announced as the deputy gubernatorial nominee in a video on her verified Instagram page. The nomination was noted by pundits as another example of celebrity politics amid several other celebrities running for office.
Nominated Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran: Convener of the Lagos4Lagos Movement and journalist Running mate—Funke Akindele: actor and producer
Eliminated in primary David Kolawole Vaughan: fashion designer
Withdrew Adedeji Doherty: former Lagos State PDP Chairman (2019–2020) and 2015 and 2019 PDP gubernatorial candidate Shamsideen Ade Dosunmu: 2011 PDP gubernatorial candidate and former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (2007–2009) Wale Gomez: businessman (to run for senator for Lagos Central) Jim-Kamal Olanrewaju: businessman Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour: 2019 PDP Lagos West senatorial nominee (defected after the primary to successfully run in the LP rerun gubernatorial primary)
Declined Jimi Agbaje: 2015 and 2019 PDP gubernatorial nominee and 2007 DPA gubernatorial nominee Babatunde Gbadamosi: 2020 PDP Lagos East senatorial by-election nominee, 2019 ADP gubernatorial nominee, and 2015 PDP gubernatorial candidate Abiodun Oyefusi: 2019 PDP Lagos East senatorial nominee
Results
Minor parties
Hakeem Dickson (Accord) Running mate: Caroline Emimie Mate Tope Abdurrazaq Balogun (Action Alliance) Running mate: Salako Tosin Mautin Ishola Bamidele (Action Democratic Party) Running mate: Omobola Tawakalit Adewusi Abiola Roseline Adeyemi (Action Peoples Party) Running mate: Opeyemi Adeyemi Akeem Olayiwola (African Action Congress) Running mate: Ben Eze Funso Doherty (African Democratic Congress) Running mate: Rosemary Giwa-Amu Funmilayo Kupoliyi (Allied Peoples Movement) Running mate: O. Timothy Adepojo Wasiu Olawale Oluwo (Boot Party) Running mate: Rotimi Balogun Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (Labour Party) Running mate: Abiodun Oyefusi Olanrewaju Jim-Kamal (New Nigeria Peoples Party) Running mate: Abiola Okoya Akinwunmi Ishola Braithwaite (National Rescue Movement) Running mate: Azeezat Oluwatoyin Dabiri-Adewumi Taofeek Olakunle Uthman (Social Democratic Party) Running mate: Animashaun Morenike Abeni Adebayo Ajayi (Young Progressives Party) Running mate: Temitayo Shodoke Adekunle Adenipebi (Zenith Labour Party) Running mate: Moses Adekoyejo Kassim
Campaign After the major party primaries, pundits viewed Adediran and Sanwo-Olu as the obvious major contenders but noted that the Labour Party—which had been rapidly growing due to Peter Obi's presidential campaign—could pose a challenge to the major parties. However, the state LP was embroiled in a crisis over its gubernatorial nomination as original nominee Ifagbemi Awamaridi repeatedly refused to step down for politician Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who had won the party's rerun primary in August. Although The Nation's Emmanuel Badejo surmised that the crisis meant the LP did "not stand much of a chance [of victory]," he also noted that the LP nominee could end up as a "spoiler" for Adediran due to their overlapping support bases. However, the LP crisis ended with Rhodes-Vivour emerging as the recognized nominee and the rise of the party at-large increased Rhodes-Vivour's chances.