2023 in Nigeria explained

Events in the year 2023 in Nigeria.

Incumbents

Federal government

• President: Muhammadu Buhari (APC) (ended 29 May); Bola Tinubu (APC) (Started 29 May)
• Vice President: Yemi Osinbajo (APC) (ended 29 May); Kashim Shettima (APC) (Started 29 May)
• Senate President: Ahmed Lawan (APC) (ended 11 June); Godswill Akpabio (APC) (Started 13 June)
• House Speaker: Femi Gbajabiamila (APC) (ended 11 June); Tajudeen Abbas (APC) (Started 13 June)
• Chief Justice: Olukayode Ariwoola

Governors

• Abia State: Okezie Ikpeazu (PDP) (Until 29 May); Alex Otti (LP) (Starting 29 May)
• Adamawa State: Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (PDP)
• Akwa Ibom State: Udom Emmanuel (PDP) (Until 29 May); Umo Eno (PDP) (Starting 29 May)
• Anambra State: Charles Soludo (APGA)
• Bauchi State: Bala Mohammed (PDP)
• Bayelsa State: Douye Diri (PDP)
• Benue State: Samuel Ortom (PDP) (Until 29 May); Hyacinth Alia (APC) (Starting 29 May)
• Borno State: Babagana Zulum (APC)
• Cross River State: Benedict Ayade (APC) (Until 29 May); Bassey Otu (APC) (Starting 29 May)
• Delta State: Ifeanyi Okowa (PDP) (Until 29 May); Sheriff Oborevwori (PDP) (Starting 29 May)
• Ebonyi State: Dave Umahi (APC) (Until 29 May); Francis Nwifuru (APC) (Starting 29 May)
• Edo State: Godwin Obaseki (PDP)
• Ekiti State: Biodun Oyebanji (APC)
• Enugu State: Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (PDP) (Until 29 May); Peter Mbah (PDP) (Starting 29 May)
• Gombe State: Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya (APC)
• Imo State: Hope Uzodinma (APC)
• Jigawa State: Badaru Abubakar (APC) (Until 29 May); Umar Namadi (APC) (Starting 29 May)
• Kaduna State: Nasir El-Rufai (APC) (Until 29 May); Uba Sani (APC) (Starting 29 May)
• Kano State: Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (APC) (Until 29 May); Abba Kabir Yusuf (NNPP) (Starting 29 May)
• Katsina State: Aminu Bello Masari (APC) (Until 29 May); Dikko Umaru Radda (APC) (Starting 29 May)
• Kebbi State: Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (APC) (Until 29 May); Nasir Idris (APC) (Starting 29 May)
• Kogi State: Yahaya Bello (APC)
• Kwara State: AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq (APC)
• Lagos State: Babajide Sanwo-Olu (APC)
• Nasarawa State: Abdullahi Sule (APC)
• Niger State: Abubakar Sani Bello (APC) (Until 29 May); Mohammed Umar Bago (APC) (Starting 29 May)
• Ogun State: Dapo Abiodun (APC)
• Ondo State: Rotimi Akeredolu (APC) (Until 27 December); Lucky Aiyedatiwa (APC) (Starting 27 December)
• Osun State: Ademola Adeleke (PDP)
• Oyo State: Seyi Makinde (PDP)
• Plateau State: Simon Lalong (APC) (Until 29 May); Caleb Mutfwang (PDP) (Starting 29 May)
• Rivers State: Nyesom Wike (PDP) (Until 29 May); Siminalayi Fubara (PDP) (Starting 29 May)
• Sokoto State: Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (PDP) (Until 29 May); Ahmad Aliyu (APC) (Starting 29 May)
• Taraba State: Darius Ishaku (PDP) (Until 29 May); Agbu Kefas (PDP) (Starting 29 May)
• Yobe State: Mai Mala Buni (APC)
• Zamfara State: Bello Matawalle (APC) (Until 29 May); Dauda Lawal (PDP) (Starting 29 May)

Events

• 25 January – At least 27 herders are killed, and several others are injured, when a bomb explodes in Nasarawa State. Some herders say it was caused by an airstrike.^[1]
• 29 January – At least nine people are killed when a container falls from a truck onto a commercial bus in Lagos.^[2]
• 4 February-ongoing – 2023 Nigerian protests begin began due to the naira, and protests due to the election.^[3]
• 25 February – 2023 Nigerian general election - Nigerians elect a new president and members of their National Assembly.^[4]
• 3 March – Sixteen people are killed when a pipeline explodes in Emohua, Rivers State.^[5]
• 9 March – Six people are killed and at least 25 others injured when a train collides with a public bus in Lagos.^[6]
• 11 March – Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria: Sixteen people are killed by Fula gunmen at a police checkpoint in Zangon Kataf, Kaduna State.^[7]
• 18 March – 2023 Nigerian gubernatorial and state of assembly election are held.^[8]
• 15-16 March – At least 100 people are killed in Mangu LGA, Plateau State.
• 16 March – An ambush kills four members of a United States convoy in Anambra State.^[9]
• 13 June – Kwara boat disaster: At least 100 people are killed when a wedding boat capsizes on the Niger River in Kwara State.^[10]
• 7 July – Health officers confirm an outbreak of diphtheria in the capital Abuja following the death of a four-year-old. According to NCDC, nearly 800 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the country as of 30 June.^[11]
• 4 September – The 13-kilometre-long (8-mile) Lagos Rail Mass Transit Blue Line rapid transit system begins service in Lagos, after being delayed since 1983.^[12]
• 2 October – At least 18 people are killed in an explosion at a illegal oil refinery in Emohua district, Rivers State.^[13]
• 20 October – Two children were killed and two others injured when a mechanical issue causes a boat engine to catch fire. The incident occurred Katcha, Niger State.^{[14] [15]}
• 29 October – Seventeen bodies are found, and 73 other people were missing when a boat carrying traders returning from a fish market capsizes on the Benue River. The boat had over 100 passengers onboard, 14 of whom are rescued.^[16]
• 30 October – 2023 Yobe State attacks: At least seventeen people are killed in Gurokayeya, Yobe State when Boko Haram-aligned gunmen storm the village, attacking residents with explosives and firearms when they reportedly refuse to a pay a tax to the terrorists.^{[17] [18]}
• 31 October – At least 20 people are killed when a land mine placed by Boko Haram explodes while they return from the burials of victims from the previous day's shooting.^{[19] [20]}
• 6 November – Two people are killed and two others injured when a tanker explodes outside the High Commission of Canada in Abuja.^[21]
• 16 November:
  • Clashes with police and members of the Islamic Movement during a pro-Palestine protest leave one dead and several injured in Kaduna.^[22]
  • A boat accident in Shioro LGA, Niger State, kills at least ten people. 24 others were rescued from the scene.^[23]
• 21 November – At least 25 people are killed and about 200 were injured in a vehicle crash on the Yawuri Expressway in Magama, Niger State.^{[24] [25]}
• 3 December – Tudun Biri drone strike: A drone strike on a village in Kaduna State mistakenly kills 85 civilians.
• 13 December – Four soldiers and two civilian drivers are killed and two South Korean workers are kidnapped in an ambush against a convoy in Rivers State.^[26]
• 23-25 December - Nigerian bandit conflict: 2023 Plateau State massacres

Deaths

• 9 January – Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, 53, filmmaker and entertainment executive.^[27]
• 14 January – Femi Ogunrombi, actor and ethnomusicologist.^[28]
• 19 January – Oladipo Ogunlesi, 99, professor of medicine.^[29]
• 1 February – Dan Suleiman, 80, politician, governor of Plateau State (1976–1978).^[30]
• 12 September – MohBad, 27, musician.
• 20 October – Alhaji Mansur Nuhu Bamalli, 42, Nigerian ambassador to Morocco.^[31]
• 8 November – Aderonke Kale, 84, Nigerian army physicist and first female major-general in the Nigerian Army.^[32]
• 27 December – Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo State (2017–2023).^[33]

See also

• 2023 in West Africa
• List of Nigerian films of 2023

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bomb kills 27 herders in central Nigeria: police . 2023-01-26 . News24 . en-US.
2. Web site: 2023-01-29 . Container falls off truck in Lagos, crushes 9 passengers to death . 2023-01-30 . The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News . en-US.
3. Web site: Nigerian Authorities Call For Calm as Citizens Protest Cash, Fuel Shortages . 2023-02-27 . VOA . 4 February 2023 . en.
4. News: Igboereteonwu . Anamasere . 2023-02-25 . Nigerians vote for new president, delays seen at some polling stations . en . Reuters . 2023-02-25.
5. Web site: 2023-03-03 . Police: Illegal refinery blast in Nigeria kills at least 12 . 2023-03-03 . AP NEWS . en.
6. News: 2023-03-09 . Train rams into public bus in Nigeria's Lagos, killing six . en . Reuters . 2023-03-09.
7. Web site: 2023-03-12 . Government: Gunmen in north Nigeria kill at least 16 people . 2023-03-13 . AP NEWS . en.
8. Web site: Breaking: INEC Shifts Governorship, Assembly Elections to March 18 – THISDAYLIVE . THISDAYLIVE – Truth and Reason . 2023-03-09 . 2023-03-18.
9. News: 2023-05-17 . Nigeria ambush: Four killed in attack on US convoy in Anambra . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-05-17.
10. Web site: Nigeria: At least 100 people killed after boat capsizes . 2023-06-15 . Sky News . en.
11. Web site: CNN . Nigeria confirms diphtheria outbreak as 4 year old patient dies . 7 July 2023 . en.
12. Web site: Metro rail service starts in Nigeria's Lagos, set to ease traffic . 2023-09-05 . www.aljazeera.com . en.
13. Web site: At least 18 killed in blast at illegal oil refinery in Nigeria: Report . 2023-10-21 . www.aljazeera.com . en.
14. Web site: 21 October 2023 . Boat mishap claims lives of 2 children in Niger . Vanguard News.
15. Web site: Agbana . Rotimi . 2023-10-21 . Two children die, others injured in Niger boat fire . 2023-10-21 . Punch Newspapers . en-US.
16. Web site: 73 missing after boat capsizes in northern Nigeria Fox News . 2023-11-02 . www.foxnews.com.
17. Web site: 2023-11-01 . Africanews Nigeria: 17 dead in jihadist attack . 2023-11-02 . Africanews . en.
18. News: 2023-11-01 . Suspected Boko Haram kills at least 40 in Nigeria's Yobe state, police say . en . Reuters . 2023-11-02.
19. Web site: Boko Haram Suspected in Attacks That Kill at Least 40 in Nigeria, Police Say . 2023-11-02 . www.voanews.com.
20. Web site: Extremists kill 37 villagers in latest attack in Nigeria's hard-hit northeast . 2023-11-02 . ABC News . en.
21. Web site: Nigeria: Fire reported at High Commission of Canada in Abuja Nov. 6 . 2023-11-06 . Nigeria: Fire reported at High Commission of Canada in Abuja Nov. 6 Crisis24 . en.
22. Web site: 2023-11-17 . Africanews Nigeria: a pro-Palestinian demonstration leaves one dead . 2023-11-17 . Africanews . en.
23. Web site: Reporter 3 . T. S. J. . 2023-11-18 . 10 died in Niger boat mishap, 24 rescued alive . 2023-11-21 . The Street Journal . en-US.
24. News: 22 November 2023 . 17 die, 208 injured as articulated vehicle crashes in Niger . Vanguard . 22 November 2023.
25. Web site: 2023-11-23 . Africanews 25 killed when truck overloaded with food items and people crashes in Nigeria's north . 2023-11-23 . Africanews . en.
26. Web site: Gunmen kill four soldiers in Nigeria . .
27. Web site: BREAKING: AMAA Founder, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe Is Dead – Independent Newspaper Nigeria . 10 January 2023 . 2023-02-02 . en-GB.
28. Web site: 2023-01-15 . Papa Ajasco stand-in character, Femi Ogunrombi, is dead . 2023-02-02 . Daily Trust . en-GB.
29. News: 2023-01-20 . Nigeria's first Professor of Medicine Ogunlesi dies at 99 The Nation Newspaper . The Nation Newspaper . 2023-02-02 . en-US.
30. News: 2023-02-02 . Ex-NADECO chief Dan Suleiman dies at 80 The Nation Newspaper . The Nation Newspaper . 2023-02-02 . en-US.
31. Web site: Adeduyite . Okiki . 2023-10-20 . Nigerian ambassador to Morocco, Nuhu Bamalli, dies . 2023-10-21 . Punch Newspapers . en-US.
32. News: 10 November 2023 . Nigeria's first female Major-General Aderonke Kale is dead . PM News Nigeria . 10 November 2023.
33. News: 27 December 2023 . Ondo Gov, Rotimi Akeredolu, Dies After Long Health Battle . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231227092406/https://www.channelstv.com/2023/12/27/ondo-gov-rotimi-akeredolu-dies-after-prolonged-health-battle/ . 27 December 2023 . 27 December 2023 . Channels Television.