By Ilori Ogunmola, Reporting
AHEAD of the Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, a third-party candidate is most favoured to emerge the next president of Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria according to a new opinion poll.
A clear majority of respondents said they intend to vote for Peter Obi, a former state governor and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, in elections scheduled for February.
The results of the survey, conducted for Bloomberg News by Premise Data Corp., were published on Wednesday as the official campaign to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari kicked off.
Of the 92 per cent of participants who said they’ve decided how to vote, 72 per cent named Obi as their first choice.
Of those who are still unsure, 45% said the 61-year-old is their preferred candidate.
The Francisco-headquartered data company surveyed 3,973 Nigerians from Sept. 5-20. Respondents to the app-based poll were selected from quotas developed by age, gender and location across the country’s six geopolitical zones.
Results were then weighted against the original quotas to ensure national representation.
About 44 per cent of Nigerians own smartphones, according to the Alliance for Affordable Internet.
The candidates of the two parties that have ruled Nigeria since the restoration of democracy in 1999 fared less well.
Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress garnered 16 per cent of decided voters and 23 per cent of those yet to make up their minds.
Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party tallied 9 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively.
This comes as a third opinion poll conducted so far in which Obi has emerged preferable by the electorate.
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