Poll tips Peter Obi as Preferred Candidate as Parties Hold Primaries this Month

The results of an independent poll jointly conducted by Nextier and Data-Tier have revealed Peter Obi as the most preferred candidate both from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressive Congress (APC) for the 2023 presidential election.

On February 25, Nigeria will conduct its 7th general elections since its return to democratic rule in May 1999.

From the camp of the ruling party, APC and the main opposition party, PDP, and other parties in the country, different persons have declared interest to run for various positions, particularly the highest office in the country – the presidency. In the APC, no fewer than 20 people have declared interest in the presidential position, while 17 persons declared interest and purchased PDP presidential nominations form.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP); People’s Redemption Party (PRP); Action Alliance (AA); Action Democratic Congress (ADC); National Rescue Movement (NRM); and Young People’s Party (YPP); and African Action Congress (AAC)  have also fronted candidates for the presidential seat. Prince Adewole Adebayo and Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi for SDP; Patience Key for PRP; Kingsley Moghalu for ADC; Malik Ado-Ibrahim for the YPP; and Omoyele Sowore for the AAC.

Some of the aspirants for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) include the former Chief Judge of Anambra state, Prof. Nnanna Umeadi; Major General John Gbor (Rtd) and Angela Johnson.

Nextier and Data-Tier polls featured 15 leading presidential aspirants from the two major parties and the results favour one of the aspirants from PDP, the former governor of Anambra state as the most preferred candidate for the 2023 presidential election. 

Nextier and Data-Tier, the creators of the poll explained that the population sampled in the poll consisted of voting-age Nigerians in and outside the country and the respondents were picked randomly from each of the 6 geopolitical zones.

Of the 15 leading presidential aspirants featured from the APC and PDP, almost half of the respondents 46.04% who participated in the poll chose Peter Obi as their most preferred candidate for president in 2023 for both parties. Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo scored 27.84%, making him the most preferred candidate from the APC and second from the 2 major parties. 

The former Lagos State governor and national leader of the ruling APC, Ahmed Bola Tinubu came third with 7.49%. Atiku Abubakar from the PDP followed as the 4th most preferred candidate with only 2.78% votes.

Although Abubakar Malami, the current Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and Goodluck Jonathan, the country’s former president are yet to publicly declare their interest, their supporters have beckoned on them to do so. Thus, they were featured in the poll. Both recorded the lowest votes – 0.21% and 0.64%, respectively. The current governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele who also is in the same category as them – yet to declare – recorded 2.14% votes, ahead of other popular candidates like Bukola Saraki, Rotimi Amaechi, Kayode Fayemi, and Aminu Tambuwal.

The report states that the majority of the respondents (43.04%) who participated in the poll identified as being from the South East region, while 27.62% were from the South West region. The South-South region had 13.06% of the respondents. 

The 3 Northern regions accounted for the lowest share of the respondents. The North East ranked the lowest at 3%, followed by the North West at 6%. The North Central region delivered only 8% of total responses. 

While the call for zoning of the presidency to the South and the fact that the region appears to be more emotionally vested in the 2023 elections could be responsible for the findings of the poll as seen in the regional participation, the people’s preference will have to wait on the result of the presidential primaries from the APC and PDP national conventions.

The PDP on its part has concluded the first stage in the primaries process which is the screening of aspirants from within the party. Last week, the screening committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chaired by David Mark, cleared 15 out of the 17 screened presidential aspirants under the platform of the PDP for the 2023 general elections. 

“We’ve been very thorough this time around. See how much time we’ve taken to screen each individual who has been here. We screened 17 aspirants, which is quite a number. We cleared 15; two have not been cleared” David Mark said.

While the chairman of the committee refused to disclose the names of the 2 aspirants not cleared, the former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi scaled through the screening process as he announced on his official Twitter handle.

The former President of the Senate, Abubakar Bukola Saraki also made it through the screening as he also announced via his official Twitter page “Screened! Cleared!”

Others who also made it through the screening process which are in the public knowledge at the time of this publication are Aminu Tambuwal, Bala Mohammed, Dele Momodu, Emmanuel Udom, and Sam Ohuabunwa. 

Oliver Tariela Diana, the only woman among the 17 aspirants screened also made the list of the 15 aspirants who have been cleared by the PDP screening committee as she took to her social media to announce the success of her screening. 

The APC is yet to conduct its screening but has fixed May 12-14th as the date for the screening of all aspirants in the party vying for different positions in the upcoming general elections. Its primary election is scheduled for May 18-24th.

The PDP on the other hand will begin its primary election this weekend starting with the nomination of candidates for the State House of Assembly. The party’s national convention to nominate its presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections will be held on May 28th and 29th.

Other parties that are set to conduct their presidential convention this month include the SDP and PRP. Their conventions are scheduled for May 14th and 30th, respectively. The APP and ADP will also conduct their presidential conventions on May 27th and 30th, respectively.

The Action Alliance (AA); Action Democratic Congress (ADC); National Rescue Movement (NRM); and Young People’s Party (YPP) have all scheduled their  presidential conventions for the first week of June.

From all indications, the month of May and June will be eventful political months as all aspirants will know their fates, same with the many Nigerians who are waiting eagerly to know the persons that will be fielded as the presidential candidates from all the parties, particularly the APC and PDP.