Niger State, Nigeria’s largest state by land area, is the home of two former military heads of state, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, both from Minna. The PDP governed it for the first 16 years of the Fourth Republic. Since 2015 it has been an APC state, and in recent years its elections have been held against a background of banditry and kidnapping in the north and west of the state.
1999 and 2003: Kure
Abdulkadir Kure won the January 1999 election for the PDP with 600,695 votes. He was re-elected in April 2003 with 561,929 votes against 247,695 for Mustafa Bello of the People’s Redemption Party.
2007 and 2011: Babangida Aliyu
Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, a former federal permanent secretary, won the April 2007 election with 443,764 votes against 210,359 for the ANPP’s David Umaru. He was re-elected in April 2011 with 543,205 votes to 244,770 for Ibrahim Bako Shettima of the Congress for Progressive Change. Aliyu chaired the Northern Governors’ Forum and was a prominent voice in the PDP until 2015.
2015: the generals’ sons
The 2015 race was billed as a battle between the sons of two generals. The APC’s Abubakar Sani Bello, son of a former military governor, faced the PDP’s Umar Nasko, son of a former minister in Babangida’s government, General Gado Nasko. Bello won on 11 April 2015 with 593,702 votes against Nasko’s 239,772.
2019: Bello’s second term
Bello beat Nasko again in March 2019, by 526,412 votes to 298,065. His second term was dominated by insecurity: in March 2022 he said bandits had a presence in 12 of the state’s 25 local government areas.
2023: Bago
The APC chose Mohammed Umaru Bago, a member of the House of Representatives who had run for Speaker in 2019, defeating the deputy governor in the primary. On 18 March 2023 he won with 469,896 votes (53.8%) against 387,476 (44.4%) for the PDP’s Isah Liman Kantigi, a former state commissioner. Kantigi accepted the result and did not go to the tribunal.
The results at a glance
| Year | Winner (party) | Votes | Runner-up (party) | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Abdulkadir Kure (PDP) | 600,695 | APP candidate | not published |
| 2003 | Abdulkadir Kure (PDP) | 561,929 | Mustafa Bello (PRP) | 247,695 |
| 2007 | Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (PDP) | 443,764 | David Umaru (ANPP) | 210,359 |
| 2011 | Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (PDP) | 543,205 | Ibrahim Bako Shettima (CPC) | 244,770 |
| 2015 | Abubakar Sani Bello (APC) | 593,702 | Umar Nasko (PDP) | 239,772 |
| 2019 | Abubakar Sani Bello (APC) | 526,412 | Umar Nasko (PDP) | 298,065 |
| 2023 | Mohammed Umaru Bago (APC) | 469,896 | Isah Liman Kantigi (PDP) | 387,476 |
2027: Bago unopposed in the primary
In May 2026 the APC declared Bago its candidate for a second term without a contest. He faces the opposition parties in the 6 February 2027 election.
