[2] One-term incumbent Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike of the People's Democratic Party was eligible to run for re-election.
On 3 April, the INEC declared that incumbent Wike won re-election,[3] as the total number of voters in areas where elections were cancelled or did not hold was not enough to give his opponent victory.
Wike considered running for a second term as the state's chief executive, and 51 years old at the time of the election in 2019.
[citation needed] There had been reports of a rift between members of the All Progressives Congress Dakuku Peterside and Ibim Semenitari.
[5] In 2017, Transportation Minister Chibuike Amaechi got involved in a dispute with party members, after he declared billionaire businessman Tonye Cole as his choice for the All Progressives Congress nomination for governor.