In a recent survey conducted by Bloomberg News, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) was identified as the front-runner for the presidency this month.
The former governor of Anambra was rated higher than Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the pre-election survey done by Premise Data Corp for Bloomberg News.
The organisation stated 2,384 Nigerians were surveyed using a smartphone app from January 26 to February 4 while providing specifics about the exercise.
“Two-thirds of respondents said they intend to vote for Obi, a third-party candidate, in elections scheduled for later this month. The results of the survey conducted for Bloomberg News by Premise Data Corp. were published on Friday – 15 days before the vote to choose President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor,” Bloomberg wrote.
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“Of the 93% of participants who said they’ve decided how to vote, 66% named Obi as their preferred choice. Obi scored a slightly higher 72% among decided respondents in an earlier Premise poll that was released by Bloomberg in September as the official election campaign kicked off.”
“Submissions were selected from quotas developed by age, gender, and location across the country’s six geopolitical zones, the company said. Results were then weighted against the original quotas to ensure national representation,” it added.
“Of the 92% of participants who said they’ve decided how to vote, 72% named Obi as their first choice,” the outlet said. “Of those who are still unsure, 45% said the 61-year-old is their preferred candidate.”
A similar survey was done by Bloomberg in September and again ranked Obi as the top presidential contender.
Additionally, 3,973 Nigerians were polled between September 5 and September 20.
Similar calculations made before the most recent survey indicated that Obi would be the front-runner in the 2023 election.
According to a September Anap Foundation survey, the LP flagbearer had 21% of the vote, placing him in the lead.
Atiku, Tinubu, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) were tied for second place. A few months later, the Anap Foundation conducted a new survey and found that Obi was once again in the lead.
Obi has a large following among young people who are disenchanted with the nation’s political system, but his opponents, including the ruling APC, the PDP, and the NNPP, have dismissed the polls and claimed that the LP candidate has no chance of winning the election. Obi’s opponents have repeatedly dismissed him as a “social media candidate.”
