Contests

Five races, two polling days, one structure

Seats contested
1,491
across all five races
Senate
109
55 for a majority
House of Reps
360
181 for a majority
Governorships
28
8 states off-cycle
State Assembly
993
across 36 states

Federal polling day

16 January 2027 · 136 days
Presidential1

Plurality nationally, plus 25% in at least 24 of 37 states and the FCT

Statutory spending ceiling₦10bn
Senate109

Plurality in each senatorial district

Statutory spending ceiling₦500m
House of Representatives360

Plurality in each federal constituency

Statutory spending ceiling₦250m

State polling day

6 February 2027 · 157 days
Governorship28

Plurality statewide, plus 25% in two-thirds of the state’s LGAs

Statutory spending ceiling₦3bn
State Assembly993

Plurality in each state constituency

Statutory spending ceiling₦100m

The 25% spread test

Cleared in 29 of 37 in 2023 · 24 required
78%
22%

Most fragile — cleared, but barely

AdamawaNorth East+0.0pt
BayelsaSouth South+0.8pt
TarabaNorth East+2.1pt
PlateauNorth Central+3.2pt
GombeNorth East+3.8pt
Akwa IbomSouth South+3.9pt
KadunaNorth West+4.4pt
KanoNorth West+5.4pt

Cheapest to gain — just below the line

EdoSouth South-0.1pt
FCTNorth Central-5.2pt
DeltaSouth South-10.3pt
ImoSouth East-10.6pt
EbonyiSouth East-12.0pt
AbiaSouth East-22.6pt
EnuguSouth East-24.0pt
AnambraSouth East-24.2pt

The presidency is not won on votes alone. A candidate needs a plurality nationally and at least 25% in two-thirds of the states plus the FCT. That makes a vote banked in a state already comfortably above the line worth less than the same vote in a state sitting just under it — arithmetic that a national vote-share target hides completely.

Governorships not on the 2027 ballot

8 states run off-cycle
AnambraBayelsaEdoEkitiImoKogiOndoOsun

Twenty-eight governorships are contested in 2027, not thirty-six. A resource model that spreads governorship effort evenly across the federation is wrong in eight states — and those eight still vote in the presidential, Senate, House and State Assembly races across both polling days. They need federal structure and no governorship structure, which is a different brief and a different budget line.

State weight for the federal races

2023 valid votes · every state votes on day one
Kano
7.1% · 484 wards
1702k
Kaduna
5.7% · 255 wards
1360k
Lagos
5.3% · 246 wards
1271k
Plateau
4.5% · 207 wards
1088k
Katsina
4.4% · 361 wards
1059k
Jigawa
3.8% · 287 wards
921k
Bauchi
3.6% · 212 wards
854k
Oyo
3.4% · 351 wards
809k
Niger
3.2% · 274 wards
779k
Benue
3.2% · 276 wards
770k
Osun
3.1% · 332 wards · no gov race
733k
Adamawa
3.0% · 226 wards
731k
Delta
2.6% · 270 wards
615k
Anambra
2.6% · 327 wards · no gov race
614k
Sokoto
2.4% · 244 wards
587k
Edo
2.4% · 193 wards · no gov race
581k
Ogun
2.4% · 236 wards
580k
Kebbi
2.3% · 225 wards
560k
Akwa Ibom
2.3% · 329 wards
555k
Ondo
2.3% · 203 wards · no gov race
551k