Former Deputy Governor Ahmad Aliyu gained the office for the APC by a margin of ~6% over the PDP nominee — former Secretary to the State Government Saidu Umar.
Ahead of his term, Waziri Tambuwal's inauguration speech focused on education, healthcare, agriculture, water development, and transportation.
[9] In terms of his performance, Waziri Tambuwal was commended for improving girl-child and technical education while being criticized for baselessly denying National Bureau of Statistics poverty data, rapidly returning to out-of-state campaigning days after May 2022 religious riots, and rising insecurity.
[14] The year prior to the APC primaries was beset by party infighting between three factions each supported by House of Representatives member Abdullahi Balarabe Salame, Minister Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi and former Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, or former Senator and potential gubernatorial candidate Abubakar Umar Gada which culminated in three parallel party congresses in October 2021.
[41] By July, Dan Iya had obtained the Sokoto North PDP senatorial nomination while Umar had picked Bafarawa as his running mate.
[49] On the other hand, analysis in September noted that there had been notable defections from both major parties along with a report that Deputy Governor and former PDP gubernatorial candidate Manir Dan Iya could join the APC.
[51] In late November, analysis from The Nation mentioned the competitiveness of the race while reiterating the potential damage from divides within each major party.
[54] Meanwhile, an election overview from the Daily Trust contended that Umar could be hurt by Tambuwal's position in the campaign of PDP presidential nominee Atiku Abubakar.
The January piece also cast doubts on the viability of other candidates like Aminu Ahmad Umar (LP) or Umaru Dahiru (NNPP).
[58][59] On 26 February 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission released the timetable, setting out key dates and deadlines for the election.
[62] Months later on 27 May 2022, INEC made a slight revision to the timetable, allowing parties extra time to conduct primaries.