By Augustine Aminu
.Leads voters’ preference in Nextier presidential poll
Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has thrown his weight behind currency redesign, urging commercial banks to expedite action to reduce pains and discomforts, small depositors, and the unbanked are going through.
According to Obi in a statement on Sunday to share in pains of Nigerians; “the currency redesign is not peculiar to Nigeria.
“It is an exercise that comes with some inconveniences and pains but, has significant long-term economic and social benefits.”
Obi further stated that: “Even though there are improvements that can be made, I urge Nigerians to bear with the CBN and Federal Government with the hope that the general populace and Nigeria will harvest the gains that will come with the reforms.”
He implored the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) and the banks to expedite efforts to make the new currency available to small depositors and the unbanked in order to reduce the pains of my fellow Nigerians, especially the underprivileged and those living far away from banks in the rural areas.
In another development, the recent face-to-face nationwide poll on Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections by Nextier, an Africa-focused consulting firm, has tipped the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi has the favourite to win.
This is as the poll result also suggest a potential runoff for the Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential election.
Nextier is a multi-competency Africa-focused consulting firm with core competencies in strategy, finance, policy research, analysis, design, and implementation.
A recent face-to-face nationwide poll on Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections showed Labour Party leading the voters’ preference at 37 percent of the survey respondents. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) secured 27 percent of the survey responses, while the All Progressives Congress secured 24 percent, with the New Nigeria Peoples Party at 6 percent.
Nextier conducted its second presidential poll on Friday, January 27, 2023, four weeks before the scheduled presidential elections.
The team used a sample size of 3,000 respondents and generated a margin of error of 2 percent at a 95 percent confidence interval. The survey sample represented the age and gender demographics in Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Although Labour Party secured the highest voter preference, it is unlikely to secure an outright first-round victory. None of the presidential candidates met both criteria for victory in the first round: a majority of votes cast and 25 percent in two-thirds of the states. The survey results show that Labour Party can achieve 25 percent of the votes in 23 states. Therefore, the presidential election could head to a runoff between Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar or Bola Tinubu.
Nextier Founding Partner, Patrick Okigbo, stated that the presidential election is shaping to be one of the most keenly contested races in recent decades. “It is exciting to see Nigerians take their civic responsibilities seriously.” He confirmed that, in addition to the two national polls, Nextier would continue to provide data analysis and insights on Nigeria’s elections and other development issues.
“Most registered voters (72 percent) have decided on their preferred party. This result is consistent across rural and urban voters. Similarly, the survey data demonstrates that respondents are certain in their choices. Eighty-three percent of the respondents indicated that nothing would make them change their preferred party before the elections. It is important to note that the survey questionnaire showed the party logos and names instead of the candidates’ names or images.
“Voter turnout in the 2023 presidential election could be significantly higher than in 2019. For instance, 77 percent of respondents indicated that they will vote in this election, while 63 percent stated that they “will definitely vote. This level of commitment was consistent across all age and gender demographics in rural and urban communities
“Despite the voter commitment, turnout could be depressed by a combination of factors: Insecurity, concerns about the freedom and fairness of the election, and concerns about the impartiality of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Only 52 percent of the respondents trust that the elections will be free and fair. Only 47 percent of respondents trust that INEC will not manipulate the results.
“Radio (33 percent) and WhatsApp/social media (29 percent) should be the key communication channels for political parties ahead of the election day. About 16 percent of respondents said they get information on the candidates and the political parties from their families and friends.
“The same percentage get their information from television. Only 2 percent get their information from their religious leaders, while 1 percent get theirs from traditional leaders. There are slight variations between urban and rural voters.
According to the result, although the Labour Party secured the highest voter preference, Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections will likely go into a second-round runoff with Peter Obi and one of either Atiku Abubakar or Bola Tinubu.