Speaker of the House of Assembly Francis Nwifuru held the office for the APC by a margin of 35% over first runner-up and PDP nominee — businessman Ifeanyi Odii.
[9][10] By July, INEC recognised Nwifuru as the APC nominee while the PDP nomination was awarded to Odii by the Supreme Court in September.
[4] Odii rejected the official results and filed legal challenges; the proceedings eventually reached the Supreme Court, which affirmed the victory of Nwifuru in a January 2024 judgment.
[14][15][16][17][18] At other points during his administration, Umahi was given praise for economic diversification and increasing government transparency while receiving further criticism for blaming IPOB attacks on politicians without evidence and ranting against the judiciary.
[24] However, some groups such as the Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in the Diaspora claimed that as one full rotation of districts would be complete in 2023, further zoning was unnecessary.
[36][37][38] Ucha and other candidates derided Umahi's endorsement of Nwifuru as 'undemocratic imposition' that was characteristic of his "high-handed" party leadership style.
[57][58] On the primary date, former Secretary to the State Government Bernard Odoh was the sole candidate and won the nomination unopposed.
[66][67] Before the national leadership set a new primary date, a party faction led by ousted state chairman Silas Onu held its own election, nominating businessman Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii by a wide margin.
[69][12] INEC briefly removed Odii as recognized nominee in December 2022 due to renewed litigation but he was returned to the list of candidates by late January.
The nominations of both Nwifuru and Odii were challenged by the winners of their parties' parallel primaries with the PDP case rising to the Supreme Court.
In the wake of the presidential election and the court ruling sacking Nkwegu, analysts focused on various factors including regional strength by candidate, internal party relations, and zoning dynamics.
[82][83] On 26 February 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission released the timetable, setting out key dates and deadlines for the election.
[86] Months later on 27 May 2022, INEC made a slight revision to the timetable, allowing parties extra time to conduct primaries.