As the countdown to the May 29, 2023 inauguration draws nearer, newly elected state governors are girding their loins and getting ready to hit the ground running. About 16 governors–elect will man the affairs of their respective states in the country for the first time.
In these states, transition committees to facilitate a smooth handover are already rounding up their activities. All things being equal, the stage is almost set for the inauguration and the people of the various states are already yearning for a fresh breath of air that will accompany the new helmsmen of their states. Except there are unexpected twists in the proceedings at the Election Petition Tribunals in each state, the new governors will govern their states for four years.
The states that will be under the control of new governors include Katsina where Dikko Umaru Radda will replace Bello Masari. Umaru is from the same All Progressives Congress, (APC) as Masari and indeed, he is Masari’s preferred successor.
Also, Jigawa State will have a new governor in Nasir Idris, who will be succeeding outgoing Atiku Bagudu, also of the APC. Bagudu will complete his second term in office on May 28, 2023.
Governor Sani Bello of Niger State will hand over the mantle of leadership to Mohammed Umar Bago of the APC, while in Plateau State, the new governor is Caleb Mutfwang of the PDP. He will be replacing Governor Simon Lalong of the APC.
Governor Nyesom Wike will on May 29 hand over the affairs of Rivers State to his preferred successor and fellow PDP man, Siminalayi Fubara, while Chief Alex Otti of Labour Party, (LP) will be the new helmsman in Abia State.
He will replace Governor Okeze Ikpeazu of the PDP who by then would have rounded up his second term.
Francis Nwiruru will replace David Umahi of Ebonyi State as the state governor on May 29, 2023, while Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State will be succeeded by Peter Mbah. Peter Mbah is also a PDP stalwart like Ugwuanyi.
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje will hand over to Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria’s People Party (NNPP) in Kano State. Ganduje of the APC could not produce a fellow APC member as his successor in the last March governorship election.
In Delta , Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, after his second term in office will be handing over to Sheriff Oborevwori, who will officially leave the State House of Assembly for his new post as governor of the state.
Cross River will also have a new governor on May 29 when the incumbent Professor Ben Ayade hands over to fellow APC man, Bassey Otu and in Benue State another APC stalwart will take the mantle of leadership. The Governor – who is eagerly awaiting the inauguration date is Hyacinth Alia of the APC. He will take over from Samuel Ortom of the PDP who by then would have finished his second term in office.
Governor Udom Emmanuel is already packing his bags from the Akwa Ibom Government House and will hand over to Umo Eno. Both of them are from the PDP.
The Governors –Elect
Dikko Umaru Radda (Katsina)
Radda, an economist was born on September 10, 1969. He was Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
Radda held posts in the APC hierarchy, which saw him emerge as the APC National Welfare Secretary, a position he held for a period of one year, from 2014 to 2015. After the 2015 General Election, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Executive Governor of Katsina State, Rt Hon Aminu Bello Masari.
Nasir Idris (Jigawa)
Idris is an educationist, politician, and immediate past national president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers and Deputy President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC). On April 17, 2023, he was pronounced Governor-elect of Kebbi State after winning the 2023 Governorship Election in the state.
He attended the Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi between 1994 and 2003, and Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, between 2006 and 2009 for his MBA.
Idris holds a PhD in Education and has written various academic papers on education.
Mohammed Umar Bago (Niger)
Mohammed Umar Bago, a banker, was born on February 22, 1974. He was born in Minna, Niger State, to a Nupe family. He is a member of the Federal House of Representatives, representing Chanchaga Federal Constituency.
Bago emerged the winner of the Governorship Election in Niger State after defeating Isah Liman Kantigi of the PDP. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Usumanu Dan Fodiyo University in Sokoto.
He is also a distinguished alumnus of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom where he graduated in 2014.
Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers)
Amaopusenibo Siminalayi “Sim” Fubara was the Rivers State Accountant-General between December 23, 2020 and May 2022.
Sim Fubara was pronounced the elected Governor of Rivers State on March 20, 2023 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He was born in Opobo Town in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.
He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management and Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria.
Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau)
Mutfwang, a lawyer, was born on March 12, 1965 in Wussasa Zaria Kaduna State, where he received his primary education. Caleb attended the University of Jos and the Nigerian Law School, after which he was admitted to the Nigerian Bar as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court.
He is also a graduate of Hawaii’s famous Haggai Institute for Leadership Development. In addition to serving on the boards of various firms, he provides legal services to individuals, corporations, federal ministries, international agencies, and governments.
Francis Nwiruru (Ebonyi)
Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru is an entrepreneur and administrator who served as two-term Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly. He hails from Oferekpe Agbaja in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. Hon. Francis Nwifuru is currently representing Izzi West Constituency at the State House of Assembly. He is the speaker of the 5th and 6th Ebonyi State House of Assembly.
Chief Alex Otti (Abia)
Alex Otti is an economist, banker, investor, philanthropist and politician. He is the former Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank Plc, a retail financial institution in Nigeria.
Otti was a governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). On December 31, 2015, the Court of Appeal which sat in Owerri removed Okezie Ikpeazu of the PDP as governor of Abia State and declared Otti the winner of the April 11 and April 25 Governorship elections in the state.
On February 3, 2016, the Supreme Court reversed the verdict of the Court of Appeal and affirmed the election of Ikpeazu as Governor. Otti is a member of the editorial board of Thisday Newspaper and writes a fortnightly column, every other Monday, titled “Outside the Box”.
Alex Otti is from Isiala-ngwa and he is the Abia state governor-elect following the March 18, 2023 elections.
Peter Ndubuisi Mbah (Enugu)
Dr Peter Mbah, who was born on March 17, 1972 is a Nigerian maritime lawyer, financial analyst, and politician.
Mbah is from Nkanu East Local Government Area (LGA) of Enugu State. He is a Fellow of the Certified Institute of Public Administration and Management (CIPM), a member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and Nigeria Bar Association.
He was appointed Chief of Staff in 2003 and subsequently as Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development by former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani. He is a member of the PDP.
Abba Kabir Yusuf (Kano)
Abba Kabir Yusuf was elected Governor of Kano State in March 2023. He served as a commissioner in the Kano State between 2011 and 2015.
In 1999, Abba was appointed Personal Assistant to Engineer Rabiu Kwankwaso when the latter was governor of Kano State. He was retained as personal assistant when Kwankwaso became a Minister in 2003.
Abba becomes Commissioner of Works, Housing and Transport in 2011, while Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso became the governor of Kano State for a second term.
In 2018 Abba was anointed by his boss, Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso while he was a Senator representing Kano Central to challenge the incumbent Governor Abdullahi Ganduje under the platform of the PDP in the 2019 General elections.
In 2022, Abba moved from the PDP to the New Nigeria Peoples Party. He was declared winner on March 20, 2023.
Sherrif Oborevwori, (Delta State)
Oborevwori is the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly and the governor-elect of the state. He began his political career as a grassroots politician; Chairman of the Okpe Community. However he hit the imelight in 2015 after he was elected as the member representing Okpe State Constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).[This is after 19 years of serving in several key government positions, first beginning as a Councillor in 1996.
Oborevwori was elected Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly on May 11, 2017, following the impeachment of the then Speaker, Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya. He was re-elected as Speaker for a second term in 2019.
Bassey Otu (Cross River)
Bassey Edet Otu represented the Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal Constituency of Cross River in the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2011. He was elected Senator for Cross River South in the April 2011 elections, running on the PDP platform. He later defected in 2016 to the APC and emerged the Cross River South Senatorial flagbearer of the party in the 2019 election. Prince Otu emerged as the governor-elect of Cross River State after the 2023 gpvernorship poll.
Hyacinth Alia (Benue)
Alia is a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, politician and governor-elect of Benue State.
He studied for a Diploma in Religious Studies in 1987 and a Bachelor of Arts in Sacred Theology in 1990. In 1999, he obtained a Master’s in Religious Education (Psychology and Counseling) at Fordham University, Bronx, New York City, USA. In 2004, he obtained an additional master’s degree in Biomedical Ethics from Duquesne University, Pennsylvania, US, in 2004 and a doctorate degree in the same course and the same university in 2005.
Hyacinth Alia was ordained a Catholic Priest on July 7, 1990, by Bishop Athanasius Atule Ushu of Makurdi Catholic Diocese
Umo Basey Eno (Akwa Ibom)
Eno was born in April 1964. He is a cleric, politician and governor-elect of Akwa Ibom State. He is the immediate past Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources in Akwa Ibom State and the founder of All Nations Christian Ministry International.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
