On the other hand, former minister Bala Mohammed—the PDP gubernatorial nominee—unseated APC incumbent Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar by a narrow margin.

In early 2022, Jika decided to run for governor of Bauchi State, instead of seeking re-election; however, he lost the APC primary and promptly defected to the NNPP in June 2022 to become its gubernatorial nominee.

[14] The win was controversial due to allegations that Muhammad used his father's position to steal public funds used to bribe delegates with cars, cash, and jobs in the judiciary.

[23] These allegations purportedly led to Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad's resignation as Chief Justice in July 2022 amid other scandals as well.

Gumau originally sought re-election in the APC but lost the primary before defecting to the NNPP in May 2022 and obtaining its senatorial nomination.

[34] Originally Yakubu Shehu Abdullahi—MHR for Bauchi—claimed to have been given an "automatic ticket" by party leadership as NNPP nominee, a few days after he defected from the APC in May 2022.

[38] However, the ruling of a Federal High Court sitting in Owerri in mid-November 2022 annulled the primary and ordered the party to conduct a new exercise.

[39] In compliance with the ruling, a rerun primary was held on 30 November with Garba winning by a wide margin; however, most other aspirants were absent from the venue.

[40] In review of the campaign in December 2022, reporting from The Nation categorized Gumau as the frontrunner due to the relatively low name recognition of his opponents and the controversial PDP primary.