Tonto Steps Down, Funke Loses, Desmond Elliot Beats Olumide, 4 More Celebrities Who Partook in 2023 Elections

• Nigeria's 2023 general elections experienced the highest influx of celebrities actively participating in the country's electoral process
• We saw the likes of Tonto Dikeh, Caroline Danjuma, Funke Akindele, Femi Branch and many more buy party tickets and contest to take active leadership roles across the nation
• Olumide Oworu is one of the new faces from Nollywood that stormed the Lagos political space to challenge his senior colleague, Desmond Elliot, for the Surulere House of Assembly position
• Legit.ng, in this article, has compiled a list of Nigerian celebrities who took part in the elections and the outcome of their contest

The 2023 general elections in Nigeria witnessed a surge of celebrities actively buying party forms and joining the political scene to contest elective positions to help change the country's direction.

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Many celebrities like Tonto Dikeh, Funke Akindele, Caroline Danjuma, and Olumide Oworu, who participated in the 2023 elections, received tremendous applause and public support after declaring their candidacy, for showing interest in politics.

However, only a few of them did very well at the polls, based on results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Legit.ng in this article has highlighted eight celebrities who contested political positions in the 2023 general elections and how well they fared.

1. Caroline Danjuma, African Action Congress (AAC)

According to the results declared by INEC, Umo Eno of the Peoples Democratic Party won the governorship election in Akwa-Ibom, where the actress and reality TV star Caroline Danjuma contested for the position of deputy governor.

The movie star who contested on the African Action Congress (AAC) platform with her principal, Iboro Otu, came a distant sixth.

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Umo Eno of the PDP got the most votes, the Young Progressive Party candidate Albert Bassey came second, and APC's Akanimo Udofia came third.

2. Tonto Dikeh, African Democratic Congress (ADC)

Another ace Nollywood actress whose participation in the 2023 elections brought a lot of enthusiasm was Tonto Dikeh.

Tonto Dikeh and her principal, Tonte Ibraye, stirred a lot of hope after their declaration to run for governor and deputy governor in the Rivers state election.

However, the movie star dashed fans' hopes of voting for her when she and her principal announced that they were stepping down for the candidate of the APC, Tonye Cole.

3. Banky W, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

Ace entertainer, Bankole Wellington of the PDP, is another celebrity that contested for an elective position during the 2023 elections.

However, like many of his other colleagues, he lost. This is his second shot at running for a seat in the Federal House of Representatives for the Eti-Osa constituency.

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Banky W came second, while the Labour Party candidate, Thaddeus Attah, took the seat.

4. Desmond Elliot, All Progressives Congress (APC)

Of the lot, actor Desmond Elliot is the only Nollywood practitioner already in government and contesting for re-election.

Desmond, however, was given a run for his money at the just concluded election as he was challenged by a younger colleague from Nollywood, Olumide Oworu of the Labour Party.

Nevertheless, the Lagos state legislator is the only celebrity that won a contest in the last election amongst his colleagues who participated in the 2023 polls.

5. Olumide Oworu, Labour Party (LP)

Young and fresh-faced Nollywood actor Olumide Oworu is one of the new kids on the block both in the movie industry and the Nigerian political space.

Olumide Oworu declared his interest in contesting for a political position weeks before the presidential election. He went up against his senior colleague, Desmond Elliot, for the Lagos state House of Assembly position in the Surulere constituency.

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However, it was later revealed that Olumide was not on the ballot. Instead, a Bode Adebayo was on the LP ballot contesting for the Surulere constituency 1, not the young actor.

6. Tuoyo Ideh, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)

Another young public personality that contested a political position in the 2023 elections is Tuoyo Ideh.

The reality TV star contested for the House of Representatives seat for Warri Federal constituency and lost.

7. Funke Akindele, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

One of the biggest Nollywood names that contested for a political position at the last election was Funke Akindele.

She was the deputy governorship candidate of the PDP for the Lagos state gubernatorial elections. When this article was published, Funke's party had yet to win any of the 19 local government areas that INEC had declared.

The APC cleared 18 LGAs, with the Labour Party winning just one.

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Funke Akindele and her principal, Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, aka Jandor, were defeated.

8. Femi Branch, National Rescue Movement (NRM)

Veteran Nollywood actor, Femi Branch, was the deputy governorship candidate for Ogun state alongside Tofunmi Ogunronbi under the National Rescue Movement (NRM) party.

Femi Branch's party came a distant 12th in the Ogun state gubernatorial elections. It was a blowout.

Source: Legit.ng