What You Need to Know About the Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi 2023 Governorship Elections – Data Digest

The Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo governorship elections are three out of the nine off-season elections that are currently conducted in Nigeria. The Kogi off-season election resulted from a court decision invalidating the results of the 2007 gubernatorial election and ordering that a fresh election be conducted on March 29, 2008 months after the inauguration of the then Governor. The court decision changed the electoral cycle of the state with the fresh election conducted outside the usual electoral cycle for the general elections in Nigeria. Similarly in Bayelsa state, the court ruled and ordered for a fresh election to be conducted in 2008, invalidating the 2007 gubernatorial election. The subsequent gubernatorial elections in both states were held between November and December months after general elections (2011, 2015 and 2109) to correspond with the constitutional requirement of governorship elections holding “not earlier than 150 days but not later than 30 days to the date of expiration of office” of the incumbent governor. In 2019 Imo state became one of the states with off-cycle governorship election with the Supreme Court ruling of January 2020 months after the inauguration of the then Governor. The Supreme Court’s decision invalidated the outcome of the 2019 Imo governorship election with a new winner declared. Accordingly, Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states will be holding their governorship election on Saturday November 11th 2023, the first off-season governorship elections post the 2023 general elections and the first off-cycle election to be held in Imo State.