Presidency: Tinubu, Atiku kick as Obi leads in opinion polls

By Saawua Terzungwe & Baba Martins

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, have reacted to an opinion poll conducted by NOI, which indicated that the candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, would defeat them in the 2023 election.

Tinubu, who spoke through the director, Media and Publicity of his presidential campaign council, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday, said he is unperturbed, describing the poll as unrealistic and fake.

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A poll conducted by Ngozi Okonjo Iweala (NOI Polls) and commissioned by the Atedo N. A. Peterside (ANAP) Foundation showed that Obi would win if the presidential election is held in 2023.

The poll, conducted in September, pointed to a three-horse presidential race between Obi, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar.

They, however, described Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) who would purportedly come fourth in the 2023 poll as a “dark horse.”

Part of the report reads: “The results showed a significant lead for Mr Peter Obi with 21% of voters proposing to vote for him if the presidential election were to be conducted today; and 13% each proposing to vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who tied in second place.

“Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso was a distant fourth with 3% of voters proposing to vote for him.”

But reacting, the Tinubu Campaign Council described the NOI poll as dubious, unrealistic and inconsistent, adding that the poll made “wild and incredible permutations” on the presidential election.

“Our party is putting every necessary machinery in motion to win the federal elections with a margin that will be too wide to contest.

“Our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, recorded the highest votes of any senator across the country under the SDP in July 1992. He will do it on a nationwide scale on February 25, 2023.

 “We are unperturbed by these dubious and unreliable statistics because our research shows that NOI polls have been off the mark at critical election periods in recent times,” the statement read in part.

Similarly, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who reacted through his spokesman, Paul IIbe, said he would defeat other candidates in the election.

He said, “We know that the election will be conducted in February 2023, barring any changes, and the Nigerian voters will be the ones to determine the next president of the country. And we know too well who that president will be.

“By his antecedents, by the response of Nigerians to the vision that he has laid out, his plan to rejig, to reformat, to restructure every aspect of our lives, socio-political and economic, we know who that person will be and, certainly, it will be Atiku Abubakar.”