A FRESH poll by Bloomberg News has placed Labour Party (LP)’s Peter Obi as the leading presidential candidate ahead of this month’s election.
The pre-election poll conducted for Bloomberg News by Premise Data Corp said the former Anambra governor was the preferred candidate for the nation’s top job, beating the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“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.
“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.”
While giving details of the exercise, the organisation said 2,384 Nigerians were polled from Jan. 26 to Feb. 4 via a smartphone app.
“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.
In September, Bloomberg conducted a similar poll which also put Obi as the preferred presidential candidate.
“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.”
It added that 3,973 Nigerians were surveyed from September 5 – 20.
Before the most recent poll, similar exercises predicted Obi as the leading contender for the 2023 election.
Anap Foundation poll in September said the LP flagbearer was leading the pack for the presidential election with 21 percent of the votes.
Atiku and Tinubu were tied in second place while the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)’s Rabiu Kwankwaso followed them. Months after that, the Anap Foundation conducted a fresh poll which again said Obi is leading the race.
But Obi’s opponents including the ruling APC, the PDP, and NNPP have dismissed the polls, maintaining that the LP candidate stands no chance in the election.
Obi, whose opponents have repeatedly waved him aside as a “social media candidate,” enjoys a huge following among youths who feel disenchanted about the country’s political system.