A policy think tank, Nextier, revealed in a survey that the Southwest has been recognized as the battleground for top presidential contenders from various parties in the 2023 presidential election.
The independent poll was conducted among registered voters in rural communities across the country.
The study, which our correspondent saw on Monday, was a face-to-face survey of registered voters in rural communities in 12 Nigerian states.
Rural communities were characterized in the study as local government areas without tertiary educational institutions.
The survey team conducted the surveys in two states in each of the country’s six geopolitical zones.
It targeted a state controlled by the Peoples’ Democratic Party and a ruling state controlled by the Congress of All Progressives in each geopolitical region.
The survey excluded the home states of the major presidential and vice presidential candidates from the major parties.
Based on survey results released over the weekend, Nextier used a sample size of 2,000 respondents.
States in the survey included Nasarawa (APC), Benue (PDP), Gombe (APC), Bauchi (PDP), Kebbi (APC), Sokoto (PDP), Cross River (APC), Edo (PDP), Imo (APC ), Abia (PDP), Ogun (APC) and Oyo (PDP).
In addition, he emphasized that all respondents were registered to vote in the 2023 elections.
When analyzing the voting preferences of the respondents, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP leads in the Northwest with 59.8 percent and in the Northeast with 50.3 percent, with Bola Tinubu coming second in those regions with 25.4 percent. and 27.2 percent, respectively. .
Peter Obi leads in the Center-North with 59.8 percent, the South-South with 67.3 percent and the Southeast with 94 percent.
The southwest is the most contested region, with Tinubu leading with 37.4% and Obi second with 24%.
Some 19.8 percent of voters surveyed in the region were still undecided on their preferred candidate.