A new poll conducted by Premise Data Corp on behalf of Bloomberg has once again put Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate in the forthcoming presidential election ahead of Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar, who are candidates of the two main political parties in the country.
The San 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.
The results of the survey, which was published on Wednesday, September 28, 2022 by Bloomberg, showed that Peter Obi had 72 per cent decided votes and 45 per cent undecided votes, followed by Bola Tinubu, who had 16 per cent decided votes and 23 per cent undecided votes, while Atiku Abubakar had 9 per cent decided votes and 17 per cent undecided votes.
The Bloomberg Presidential Race Poll also showed that three-quarters of the respondents said their country was heading in the “wrong direction.” A combined 88 per cent listed the economy and jobs, corruption, and security; three pillars of the campaign that brought Buhari to power in 2015 as the most critical issues facing their communities.
It also showed that campaign issues, according to surveyed voters, will likely centre on economy and jobs, corruption, security, food prices, and national security, among others.
According to the poll, Nigerians contend with soaring inflation, a plunging currency and pervasive insecurity.
“Production of the economy’s historical mainstay — crude oil — has also slumped to multi-decade lows, while the Buhari administration’s debt service bill in the first quarter of the year exceeded the revenue it was able to earn.
“More than 65 per cent named Obi as the candidate best able to improve the economy, tackle corruption and reduce insecurity. Tinubu ranked second on each measure, ahead of Abubakar.
“Despite the general disenchantment about Nigeria’s trajectory, most respondents said that they trust the election to be run fairly and think their vote will make a difference — even if almost half expect the polls to be marred by violence,” it said.
Obi has famously taken the lead in two previous opinion polls published earlier.
