The 2023 Borno State gubernatorial election took place on 18 March 2023, to elect the Governor of Borno State, concurrent with elections to the Borno State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly.^[1][2] The election—which was postponed from its original 11 March date—was held three weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections.^[3] Incumbent APC Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has been renominated by his party.^[4]

The primaries, scheduled for between 4 April and 9 June 2022, resulted in Zulum winning the All Progressives Congress primary unopposed on 26 May while the Peoples Democratic Party nominated businessman Mohammed Ali Jajari on 25 May.^[4][5]

The Governor of Borno State is elected using a modified two-round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive the plurality of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of state local government areas. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round will be held between the top candidate and the next candidate to have received a plurality of votes in the highest number of local government areas.

Borno State is a large, diverse northeastern state in the process of recovering from the worst of the Boko Haram insurgency. Still facing large-scale threats by and partial occupation from Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists, the state also has to contend with an underdeveloped yet vital agricultural sector, desertification, and low education rates.

Politically, the 2019 elections confirmed the state's status as one of the most staunchly APC states in the nation as both Buhari and Zulum won the state by wide margins and every single legislative seat on the senatorial, house of representatives, and house of assembly levels were carried by APC nominees.

At the beginning of his term, Zulum said administration would focus on ending the insurgency, rebuilding the educational sector, creating jobs, and reconstructing abandoned communities.^[6] In terms of his performance, Zulum was praised for his outreach to Christian areas in the state's south that are heavily targeted by terrorists, the restoration of power to Bama, an early and proactive approach to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to support internally displaced persons' return to their communities, and for signing the Child Protection Law but was criticized for ordering the reopening of schools in an insecure area, being insensitive in the aftermath of the Koshebe massacre, and rushing the closure of IDP camps before security could be guaranteed.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results, were to take place between 4 April and 3 June 2022 but the deadline was extended to 9 June.^[2][14]

In the months after the primaries, the campaign was dominated by questions over the ability of Ali Jajari to challenge the strong APC hold of the state. Coupled with the pro-APC leaning of the state were accusations that the incumbent administration was suppressing the opposition, most notably when the NNPP campaign office was closed in August by order of the Borno State Urban Planning and Development Board as it allegedly violated zoning laws. After the NNPP protested the closure, Zulum ordered the unbarring of the office with a statement that "no matter the justification [for the closure], the timing is wrong."^[28][29] By September, the PDP had begun expressing fears of electoral fraud while the APC dismissed the PDP and NNPP as parties without widespread support in the state.^[30]

By 2023, attention largely switched to the presidential election on 25 February. In the election, Borno State voted for Bola Tinubu (APC); Tinubu won 54.2% of the vote, beating Atiku Abubakar (PDP) at 41.0%. Although the result was unsurprising as Borno is the home state of Tinubu's running mate—Kashim Shettima—and projections had favored him, the totals led to increased attention on the gubernatorial race as it was a much slimmer APC margin of victory than in recent previous elections. Gubernatorial campaign analysis from after the presidential election noted the role of Ali Jajari in the state PDP's renewal while noting NNPP support among Shuwa Arab and Hausa communities in addition to LP support among Christian communities. Pundits also observed that the boost of APC incumbency had been counteracted by weak areas where unpopular APC legislative candidates could drag down Zulum's vote share.^[31] Nevertheless, the EiE-SBM forecast projected Zulum to win based on "quantitative data and the convincing party victory in the presidential vote" while a Vanguard piece predicted a Zulum "walk over."^[32][33]

• 2023 Nigerian elections
• 2023 Nigerian gubernatorial elections