Nwifuru Francis Ogbonna is a Nigerian politician who contested the 2023 Gubernatorial Elections as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Ebonyi. They won with 199K votes (58.13%).

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Career

2027APCGovernorship ElectionNominee→

2023APCGovernorship Election199,131 votes · 58.1%Won

See Nwifuru Francis Ogbonna’s full career →

In this race · 2023 Gubernatorial ElectionsAll candidates →

Adol-Awam Chris Soni

NNPP

Igwe Chinenye Judith

APM

Nkwegu Edward Okereke

Nwandugo Chukwuma Awuregu

Nwankwo Micheal Ikechukwu

SDP

Biography

Francis Ogbonna Erishi Nwifuru (born 25 February 1975) is a Nigerian politician and lawyer who is the current governor of Ebonyi State since 2023. He previously served as speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly from June 2015 to May 2023. He hails from Oferekpe Agbaja in Izzi local government area of Ebonyi State. Nwifuru represented Izzi West constituency at the Ebonyi State legislature between 2011 and 2023.

He was the Deputy Chief Whip of the 4th Ebonyi State House of Assembly (2011–2015). During that period, he served as chairman Ebonyi State House of Assembly Committee on Lands, Survey, Urban Development and Environment.

His journey into the State House of Assembly was under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), until 2020, when he moved to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Nwifuru was born into a polygamous family of Chief and Mrs Nwifuru Nwamkpu.

He got enrolled into Oferekpe Agbaja Community Primary School in 1991 and continued his education at the Community Secondary School, Nwofe Agbaja in 1999. His educational activities were not smooth-sailing; he attended school at intervals and joined his brothers in rearing cattle.

Upon concluding his post-primary education, Ogbonna was christened 'Francis' after baptism as a Catholic. He enrolled into Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, to study Building Technology and Woodwork.

He received a master's degree in Procurement, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management from Salford University, Manchester, United Kingdom, in June 2021.

In 2007, he ran for his state constituency in the Ebonyi State House of Assembly but lost. He was later appointed as an Ex-Officio State Executive Member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State.

In March 2011, he took a second shot, winning the election to represent Izzi West Constituency at the Ebonyi State House of Assembly. In that tenure, he became the Deputy Chief Whip and chairman House Committee on Lands, Survey, Urban Development, and Environment.

He was re-elected in 2015 as the 5th speaker of the Assembly. He was also re-elected for the same positions in 2019, becoming the only member to have returned as a two-time Speaker in the history of Ebonyi State House of Assembly.

In 2020, he was elected as the National Vice-Chairman of the South East Conference of State Legislatures of Nigeria.

As the flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress during the 2023 Ebonyi gubernatorial election, Nwifuru garnered a total of 199,131 votes cast across the 13 local governments in the state to win the election.

Party Positions

Policy positions from the All Progressives Congress (APC) party manifesto.

Security & Defense

Enhances compensation, medical care, housing support, scholarships, stipends, and health insurance for military personnel injured in duty and their families.

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Governance & Reform

Commits to amending Nigeria’s governance architecture through constitutional review and collaboration with the National Assembly and State Governments to grant States greater autonomy over critical matters like crime prevention, prisons, stamp duties, and taxation.

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Economy & Trade

Reforms the Federal Budgetary Methodology to move away from oil revenue dependence and base spending on projected growth, establishing an inflationary ceiling to optimize fiscal policy without causing excessive inflation.

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Infrastructure

Launches a National Infrastructure Campaign to modernize national infrastructure by hiring millions of unemployed Nigerians through the fiscal flexibility gained from reforming budgetary methodology.

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Agriculture

Will encourage local farmers to form farm cooperatives, enabling them to pool resources for modern farming equipment, fertiliser, and access priority government agricultural assistance programs (extension services), with tax breaks and credits.

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Environment & Climate

Will **reduce Nigeria’s gas flaring** by removing it from the top 10 countries with highest flares, aiming to maximize sector benefits while eliminating environmental harm.

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Anti-corruption

Curb reliance on imported goods via luxury taxes, higher tariffs, and processing fees while incentivizing local manufacturing with tax credits/rebates.

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Enterprise grant support

Provides tax credits, holidays, and reduced interest rate loans for businesses that hire a specified percentage of youth in their workforce and offer on-the-job training.

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Energy

Will increase Nigeria’s domestic crude oil production to **2.6 million barrels per day by 2027** and **4 million barrels per day by 2030**, while implementing a Special Enforcement and Monitoring Unit to deter theft, vandalism, and pipeline breaches using drones and aerial surveillance.

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Education

Introduces a new management system for federally funded primary and secondary schools via Boards of Education, reserving community representation in decision-making.

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Healthcare

Will strengthen primary healthcare infrastructure with incentive schemes, counterpart funding programs, and grassroots preventative care (vaccinations, cancer screening, blood pressure monitoring) in collaboration with state/local governments.

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Technology & Digital

Establishment of an advisory committee to review and reform regulatory frameworks for blockchain technology and virtual asset services.

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Reliefs and scholarships

Provides **conditional income support** to very poor households, tied to human capital development goals like high-school attendance, healthcare, and nutrition.

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