2023 Presidential Election: The Three Major Candidates

Who is your candidate?

With only a few more months to the presidential elections next year, political parties are beginning to unveil their various flagbearers and the two prominent parties in Nigeria have unveiled theirs too. We will take a look at the bio of both candidates and that of the surprise third force. 

1. The B.A.T

Most definitely not Gotham’s dark Knight but Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. At various points in his life, he has been many things, He was an accountant at some point, a senator, an activist fighting for democracy, a party national leader, and a sitting governor also.

He was governor of Lagos state from 1998-to 2007 serving two terms in office. He is the flag bearer for the ruling party A.P.C in next year’s presidential election.

2. The Relentless One

A lot of people don’t know but Atiku Abubakar has been in politics for a long time and has contested various positions without winning most. He has contested five times for the Office of President of Nigeria in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019 and has lost all 5 times.

He once contested to be the governor of Adamawa state and he actually won but before they could swear him in, he accepted a huge offer to become Olusegun Obasanjo’s running mate for the 1999 presidential election. He went on to become the Vice president of Nigeria for 8 years. 

He is the flagbearer for the P.D.P(People’s Democratic Party) in next year’s election.

3. The Third Force

For the longest time, we have had two major candidates in most presidential elections and those two candidates always come from the two prominent parties. For the first time next year, we might actually have a third prominent candidate in Peter Gregory Obi. He was a trader before he delved into politics.

His first tenure as governor of Anambra state didn’t even start until 3 years after the election had taken place. He was impeached at some point but he also challenged that in court, he won and was reinstated. He ran again for office in 2010 and won, After his governorship stint, he was appointed chairman of the S.E.C (Security and Exchange Council) under President Johnathan’s tenure.

He decamped from the P.D.P in 2022 and moved to the Labour party. 

#STATEAFFAIRS is a segment that gives you a quick rundown of various political and state issues as they happen in the most simple, subtle language. In this edition, we will briefly look at the major candidates for next year’s presidential election and a possible third force.