Peter Obi emerges as favourite to win Nigeria's presidency in recent Bloomberg digital poll

FORMER Anambra State governor and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has emerged as the leading contender in a Bloomberg poll on Nigeria's forthcoming presidential election due to take place on February 25.

Later this month, Nigerians will decide who their next president is, as President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure is set to end. Frontrunners in the election include former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Kano State governor Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

In the latest poll conducted by Premise Data Corp for Bloomberg News, between January 26 and February 4, Governor Obi was projected to be the winner. According to the poll, Governor Obi was the preferred choice of respondents, garnering 66% of the votes that were cast.

Asiwaju Tinubu and Alhaji Abubakar garnered 18% and 10 % respectively to emerge second and third in the poll.  A Bloomberg spokesman said: “San Francisco-based Premise polled 2,384 Nigerians from January 26 to February 4 via a smartphone app.

"Submissions 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.”

In recent times, a number of polls have been conducted for the leading presidential candidates, with Governor Obi winning the majority of the polls. However, his opponents are quick to describe these polls as inconsequential.

In September last year, Governor Obi emerged as the leading candidate with 21% of the votes cast in an NOI poll. Asiwaju Tinubu and Alhaji Abubakar tied in second place with 13% of votes each, while Senator Kwankwaso of came fourth with just 3% of the vote.