Elections: List of state governors that lost their senatorial bids

The Nigerian general elections held on February 25, 2023, resulted in surprises and intrigues. Some incumbent governors, however, lost their senatorial bids.

This is a list of governors who lost the election to opposition parties;

Note: We will continually update this as verified results are made available;

Ben Ayade – Cross River

The incumbent governor of Cross River state, Ben Ayade, lost his bid to return to the Senate following his defeat by the incumbent senator representing Cross River North, Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe.

Ayade, who was in the Senate between 2011 and 2015, lost the National Assembly elections conducted on Saturday (February 25, 2023) with 56,595 votes against Agom-Jarigbe’s of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 76,145 votes.

The returning officer, Emmanuel Emanghe, who spoke on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced the result for the polls around 3:05 a.m. on Monday.

Agom-Jarigbe, a two-time member of the House of Representatives, was elected into the Senate through a bye-election in September 2021 following the death of Rose Okoh.

Ayade, who is serving out his two-term as governor of the state, sought to replace Mr Agom-Jarigbe as the Senator representing Northern senatorial district of Cross River.

However, the re-elected senator could not be issued the declaration form by the returning officer after his declaration.

Upon demand for the declaration form, Agom-Jarigbe was told that it was mistakenly taken to Obudu by the electoral body in the state.

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi – Enugu

The incumbent governor of Enugu state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, lost his senatorial bid to the Labour Party (LP) candidate for the district, Okechukwu Ezea.

Mr Ugwuanyi, who is rounding off his second term as governor, is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the Enugu North Senatorial District election held on Saturday 25 February.

The Returning Officer for the election, Chukwuemeka Ubaka, announced the result at the collation centre of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nsukka Local Government Area headquarters on Monday at about 5: 20 a.m.

Mr Ezea, the LP candidate, polled a total of 104,492 votes to defeat Mr Ugwuanyi of the PDP, who came second with 46,948 votes.

The All Progressives Congress candidate for the district, Ejike Eze, garnered 6,816 votes to come a distant third.

Mr Ubaka, a professor, said Mr Ezea was declared the winner in the exercise because he “justified all the requirements of the law” having scored the highest number of votes in the election.

Darius Ishaku – Taraba

The incumbent governor of Taraba State,  Darius Ishaku (PDP), lost the Taraba South senatorial district election to the All Progressives Congress candidate, David Jimkuta.

Declaring the election results on Monday (February 27, 2023) in Wukari, the INEC returning officer, Professor Solomon Adeyeye, said Jimkuta polled 85,415 votes to defeat Governor Darius of the PDP, who polled 45,708 votes.

Okezie Ikpeazu – Abia

The outgoing governor of Abia state, Okezie Ikpeazu (PDP), lost the senatorial election in Abia South District to All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Enyinnaya Abaribe.

The Returning Officer for Abia South National Assembly elections, Mrs Georgina Ugwuanyi announced Abaribe got the highest number of votes, having scored 49,903.

She further announced that the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Chinedu Onyeizu, scored 43,903, while Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party scored 28,422 votes to come third.

Simon Lalong – Plateau State

Outgoing governor of Plateau state, Simon Lalong, lost his bid to represent the people of Plateau South in the forthcoming 10th Senate.

The two-term All Progressives Congress (APC) state chief executive was beaten at the poll by his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Air Vice Marshal Napoleon Bali (rtd).

By the defeat, he has set a record of being the state’s first two-term governor to fail to make it to the Senate.

His predecessors, Joshua Dariye and Jonah Jang, both achieved their ambitions.

Atiku Bagudu – Kebbi State

Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State lost his bid to represent Kebbi Central Senatorial District in the forthcoming 10 National Assembly. He lost to Senator Adamu Aliero.

Announcing the result in Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State capital, the Returning Officer, Abbas Bazata declared the PDP candidate, Adamu Aliero winner having scored 126,588 votes as against Bagudu, the Chairman APC  Progressives Governors Forum who scored 92,389 votes.