Meet the 18 candidates jostling to become Nigeria’s 16th President
For the first time in 20 years (since 2003) President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s 15th president will not be on the ballot as a Presidential candidate. Buhari ran for president from 2003 and failed three times (2003, 2007, and 2011) before eventually emerging as president in 2015 following the merger of opposition parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).
While the 2023 Presidential election appears to be a three-horse race among Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of Labour Party, and Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), there are 15 other Nigerians vying for the office of the President on Saturday, February 25, 2023.
From Christopher Irene Imumolen, the youngest presidential candidate in the race to Princess Chichi Ojei, the only woman in the race, here’s all you need to know about the 18 candidates jostling to be Nigeria’s 16th President.
Peter Obi
Peter Obi is the Presidential candidate for the Labour Party and is one of the leading candidates in the 2023 elections. He was born on July 19, 1961, in Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria. Obi has achieved a cult-like following since declaring for president in May 2022, after decamping from the PDP, where he was running mate to Atiku Abubakar in 2019.
Obi is a successful entrepreneur who joined politics in 2003 and contested for the governorship position in Anambra State under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) but was not declared the winner. He became the first governor in Nigeria to restore his mandate through the court after three years of legal battle. After seven months in office, Obi was impeached, but he successfully challenged his impeachment and was reinstated as the governor on February 9, 2007, by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu.
Widely regarded as a competent and visionary leader with a track record of excellence in governance and business, Obi’s political mantra of taking Nigeria from consumption to production resonates with young people who formed a following known as the OBIdent Movement.
In his campaign for the presidency, Obi is advocating for a new approach to governance that focuses on improving the country’s economy, providing quality education and healthcare, and addressing the security challenges facing the nation.
Atiku Abubakar
Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President, has been attempting to rule the country since 1992 and is now the PDP’s presidential candidate.
Atiku first attempted to become President in 1992 but lost the presidential primary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to MKO Abiola, the adjudged winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election
Born on November 25, 1946, Atiku is the oldest candidate in the 2023 Presidential race. He ran for governor in Adamawa State and won, before he was sworn-in as governor, he was adopted as the running mate to Olusegun Obasanjo as PDP’s presidential candidate when Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999.
A graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he earned a diploma in Law in 1969 and later a Bachelor’s degree in Economics in 1978, Atiku Abubakar is also a successful businessman with interests in agriculture, logistics, media, and education. He founded the American University of Nigeria in Yola, Adamawa State.
In the 2019 Nigerian general election, Atiku Abubakar ran as the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but he was defeated by the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling APC was governor of Lagos State (1999-2007), Nigeria’s commercial hub, is regarded as a kingmaker and political groomer.
Shortly after his tenure as Governor ended in 2007, Tinubu became one of the forces that sought to bring together the various opposition parties into a “mega-party” capable of challenging the dominance of PDP. In 2013, Tinubu, among other notable Nigerian politicians, achieved a coalition of the three biggest opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the new PDP (nPDP), to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Campaigning to replicate his achievements in Lagos State across Nigeria, Tinubu has promised to decentralise the Nigerian Police Force in order to tackle insecurity, increase the annual budget for education to 25 per cent, create thousands of new jobs, and grow the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 12 per cent when elected President of Nigeria.
Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso
Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso is the former governor of Kano State and the Presidential candidate of the Nigeria National Peoples Party (NNPP).
Born on October 21, 1956, Kwankwaso obtained his Doctorate degree in water engineering from Sharda University, India in 2022.
Kwankwaso started his political career on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and was a member of the People’s Front faction of the SDP led by General Shehu Yar’adua, and other popular politicians such as Senator Magaji Abdullahi, Babagana Kingibe, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, Tony Anenih, Chuba Okadigbo, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Abubakar Koko, and Lamidi Adedibu amongst others.
In 1999, Kwankwaso contested and won the gubernatorial election in Kano State. He was re-elected for a second term in 2011 after he lost his re-election bid to Ibrahim Shekarau in 2003. A former member of APC and PDP, Kwankwaso enjoys widespread support in Kano and north-western Nigeria where he is viewed as a charismatic populist and is expected to secure large votes.
Princess Chichi Ojei
Among the 18 Presidential Candidates, Princess Chichi Ojei, the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), stands out as the only woman vying for the office of the President. She adds her name to the list of a few women like Moji Obasanjo, Sarah Nnadzwa Jibril and Oluremi Comfort Sonaiya who have defied the odds and contested for the presidency in what has been, for long, a male-dominated contest.
Born in Delta State in the oil-rich Niger Delta, Princess Chichi Ojei is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
Omoyele Sowore
Omoyele Sowore is a Nigerian human rights activist and founder of the online news platform, Sahara Reporters. Born on February 16, 1971, Sowore is contesting for president for a second time under the platform of the African Action Congress (AAC), a party he formed in 2018.
A native of Ese-Odo local government areas of Ondo State, Sowore was the president of the University of Lagos Students’ Union Government between 1992 and 1994, where he led protests against the military rule of General Ibrahim Babangida.
In 2006, he founded Sahara Reporters, an online news agency.
Sowore’s activism has often put him at odds with the Nigerian government, and he has been arrested and detained multiple times. In 2019, he ran for President of Nigeria as the candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) party.
Christopher Irene Imumolen
Christopher Irene Imumolen, the Presidential candidate of the Accord Party (AP), is the youngest presidential candidate in the 2023 race. He is 39 years old, four years older than the 35 years minimum age requirement s for contesting the presidential election in Nigeria. Previously, the minimum requirement was 40 years.
Born on September 5, 1983, in Edo State, Imumolen is the founder of Joint Professional Training and Support International Limited (JPTS) and UNIC Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation. He is also the Founder of Global Wealth System, a business network system set up to empower entrepreneurs globally with over 450,000 Memberships.
With a Ph.D. in Engineering Research and Educational Management, as well as three Master’s degrees and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering, he gained experience in political office when he was appointed as the Senior Technical Adviser to the Akwa-Ibom State Government on Oil and Gas matters.
Yabagi Yusuf Sani
Yabagi Yusuf Sani, a graduate of Harvard and the Institute of Technology, is one of the presidential candidates with an impressive educational background. Born on July 1, 1957, Sani is the Presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) and also contested as President in 2019.
A founding member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Sani holds a B.SC in Management Engineering from Columbia University, New York.
Umeadi Peter Nnanna Chukwudi
Professor Peter Umeadi, a former Chief Judge of Anambra State, is in the race to become Nigeria’s next President under the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
After his retirement as the state’s Chief Judge in March 2019, Peter Umeadi joined APGA in his Nri Ward II in Anaocha, Anambra.
Kola Abiola
30 years after General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the June 12, 1993, Presidential election that would made his father MKO Abiola Nigeria’s president, Kola Abiola, the son of the businessman and politician, is in the race to become Nigeria’s 16th president under the People’s Redemption Party (PRP).
Abdul-Lateef Kola Abiola was born on July 1, 1962, in Abeokuta, Ogun State. He is an alumnus of Berkeley and Colorado State University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and an MBA in Business Administration.
Adebayo Adewole Ebenezer
Adebayo, a Nigerian lawyer and founder of KAFTAN TV, was born on January 8, 1972.
He is licensed to practice law in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, California, New York, and federal courts in the United States. Adebayo was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2000 after graduating from Obafemi Awolowo University.
Running for President under the Social Democratic Party, Adebayo began his legal career as a litigation lawyer at Tunji Abayomi and Co in Lagos, Nigeria. After two years, he founded his own law firm, Adewole Adebayo & Co.
He declared his intention to run for the highest office in Nigeria on January 15, 2022.
Adenuga Sunday Oluwafemi
Adenuga Sunday Oluwafemi is a mathematician, statistician, and project manager. He is one of the presidential candidates under the age of 50 years. Oluwafemi is vying for President under the platform of Boot Party (BP). He hails from Ogun State, and his core mandate is “Restructuring Nigeria to work.”
Ado-Ibrahim Abdulmalik
Ado-Ibrahim Abdulmalik is the founder of Bicernergy, a solar energy company and is currently running as the presidential candidate for the Young Progressives Party (YPP).
He was born in 1960 into the Royal Family of HRH Ado Ibrahim, the Ohinoyi of Ebira Land in Kogi State. Abdulmalik holds a BSc in Economics from the American College, USA, and a Master’s in Marketing from the University of Southern California.
Al-Mustapha Hamza
An ex-major in the Nigerian army turned politician, Hamza Al-Mustapha is the Presidential candidate of Action Alliance (AA).
Born on July 27, 1960, Al-Mustapha was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1983 and was Chief Security Officer to the then military Head of State Sani Abacha and served until his death in 1998.
As Abacha’s CSO, Al-Mustapha was alleged to be involved in the many cases of abuse of power, arrest, detention, and torture of socio-political activists who called for the announcement of Abiola as winner of the 1993 presidential election, among many others. He was later acquitted of all these charges in 2010. He was also charged with the killing of one of Abiola’s wives – Kudirat Abiola in 1996. Although a Lagos High Court convicted him for the murder and sentenced him to death by hanging, he was acquitted by an Appeal Court in July 2013.
Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwul
Daniel Daberechukwu Nwanyanwu, who was the chairman of the Labour Party (LP) from 2004 to 2014, is contesting for President under the platform of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP). With a successful career in the banking sector, Nwanyanwu resigned from his appointment with the Union Bank of Nigeria in February 1993 to finish his law degree. He was called to the Bar in 2000. After obtaining his master’s degree in Law (LL.M) from the University of Lagos, he did his pupilage under the close supervision of Frederick Rotimi Williams in the Chief Rotimi Williams Chambers.
Born on November 23, 1959, Nwanyanwu was one of the founding fathers of the Labour Party whose leadership helped Olusegun Mimiko to win the governorship of Ondo State in 2009 under the LP.
Osakwe Felix Johnson
Felix Johnson Osakwe is a clergyman, diplomat, humanitarian ambassador, and a successful business personality in Nigeria who is contesting for the office of the President under the platform of the National Rescue Movement (NRM).
Osakwe hails from Ukwani Local Government in Delta. He studied Legal and Criminal Justice at Ashworth University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Theology (B.Th) and Master’s Degree in Theology (M.Th) from Freedom University and Theological Seminary, USA.
