Buhari, Wike, Lawan, other prominent politicians who are leaving office in 2023

Nigeria will go to the polls on February 25, 2023 to vote a new set of leaders which include a president and members of the National Assembly.

On March 11, 2023, the citizens will also vote governors and members of state house of assemblies.

However, some prominent politicians will leave office. While the race to the 2023 elections continues, these politicians are not contesting any elective positions and only time can tell what future has in stock for them.

Below is a list of household names in Nigerian politics who are leaving office in 2023:

Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan

The Senate President was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 to represent the Bade/Jakusko Constituency under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

Lawan was re-elected in 2003 before he successfully ran to become Yobe North Senator in 2007.

The academic turned politician was reelected in 2011, 2015, and 2019 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Lawan was elected the new Senate President with 79 votes cast to beat Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume who polled 28 votes after the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly in 2019.

However, nothing has put Lawan’s political sojourn in the eye of the storm than his recent debacle with Bashir Machina, whom the Independent National Electoral Commission and the court recognised as the APC senatorial candidate for Yobe North in the 2023 general elections.

President Buhari

After three unsuccessful shots at presidency under different political parties, President Muhammadu Buhari was eventually elected on the Platform of the APC in 2015 in a rare circumstance, defeating the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The former military general was re-elected in 2019 when he defeated his closest opponent, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of PDP.

Buhari has repeatedly said that he is going back to the farm at the expiration of his tenure on May 25, 2023.

Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo ran on a joint ticket with Buhari in 2015 after a multifaceted alliance that led to the creation of the APC. In 2019 he was also re-lected alongside Buhari.

The vice president had contested during the APC presidential primary, but lost to the the presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Before his present position, the law professor was Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice during the Tinubu-led administration in Lagos.

Wike

Ezenwo Nyesom Wike is in his second tenure as the governor of Rivers State. In March 2022, Wike contested for the PDP presidential ticket, but was defeated by Atiku who won the primary with 371 votes.

Wike was a two-term Executive Chairman of Obio Akpor Local Government Area from 1999 to 2007. He was then appointed Minister of State for Education on July 14, 2011. Wike was later appointed the Acting Minister of Education after Mrs Ruqqayatu Ahmed Rufai was sacked but resigned before finishing his term to contest the governorship election in Rivers State.

Ganduje

Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is currently serving as the Governor of Kano State, a position he has held since 2015.

He previously served twice as a deputy to former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso between 1999 to 2003 and 2011 to 2015.

Masari

Aminu Bello Masari is the current Governor of Katsina State. He was elected in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019.

He was the Commissioner for works, housing and transport in Katsina state from 1991 to 1993. He was the Speaker of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007.

El-Rufai

As the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has been in office since 2015. He served as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory from 2003 to 2007; and the director of the Bureau of Public Enterprises. He is a founding member of the ruling APC

Mohammed Badaru Abubakar

Mohammed Badaru Abubakar was elected Jigawa State governor in 2015. He was re-elected on 9 March 2019 having polled a total of 810,933 votes against the PDP candidate, Aminu Ibrahim Ringim, who scored 288,356.

Ben Ayade

Professor Ben Ayade was also elected as the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria in 2015. The former academic, was elected to the 7th Senate in 2011. He contested in the APC primary elections in 2022.

Ben Ayade contested in the (APC) presidential primary, but lost to Bola Tinubu in June 2022.