The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Emeka Ihedioha has emerged a clear favourite to win the Imo State 2019 governorship election, according to an opinion poll conducted by Washington DC based polling firm- Harris & Schulz Consultants, for the Imo Global Alliance for Good Governance (IGAGG) USA.
The poll conducted from January 16-26, 2019 showed that, head-to-head, the former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives leads Sen. Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Sen. Ifeanyi Ararume of the All Progressives Grand Allance (APGA), Chief Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA), and Chief Ikedi Ohakim of the Accord Party (AP), by a wide margin, with each receiving 53%, 19%, 13%, 6%, 3% support respectively.
Six percent remain undecided, the poll said.
On who will be most trusted to implement their campaign promises and bring positive change to Imo State, the PDP candidate got 55 % while the APC, APGA, AA and AP tickets polled 15%, 12%, 10%, 5% respectively, with 4% undecided.
The PDP ticket is also preferred on education, agriculture, healthcare, economy, fighting corruption, law and order, with 57%, 63%, 52%, 52%, 50% and 55% support respectively.
When it comes to likeability, the PDP ticket also was preferred but with smaller margin of 47%, while APC, APGA, AA, AP received 25%, 11%, 8%, 9% in that order.
A subgroup analysis of the survey revealed that the PDP ticket leads, APC, APGA, AA, and AP, tickets across all three zones of the state, on who will likely win the election, with each receiving, in Owerri zone, 81%, 8%, 2%, 2% and 5% respectively, with 2% undecided; in Okigwe zone 52%, 11%, 13%, 4%, and 17% respectively with 3% undecided; in Orlu zone 47%, 24%, 3%, 17%, and 5% respectively with 5% undecided.
As the economy of the state was described as “hopeless”, by an Owerri based building contractor Chief Daniel Nweze, the direction continues to pose significant obstacles for the incumbent Governor Mr. Rochas Okorocha and a political bonanza for the opposition.
“The PDP ticket appears to have done a better job defining the challenges of the State, and starkly presented itself as an alternative to the failed Okorocha’s government”, says Ms Anna Wintson-Schulz, the Washington DC based pollster, who led this survey project.
Also Commenting on the poll, Professor Eddie Oparaoji, the leader of the global Diaspora organization that commissioned the survey said “I believe the messy primaries of other parties helped the PDP ticket, in addition to the experiences, qualities, qualifications and credibility of her candidates.
“If the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), conducts a free and fair election, it appears from this survey result, that Hon. Emeka Ihedioha will be the next Governor of Imo State. Any manipulations of the results by INEC could spell doom for the state.”
The poll was conducted via mobile phones, from January 16-26, 2019 among 105,100 responders, out of 150,000 randomly selected PVC secured registered voters, and it has an overall margin of error of plus-minus (+/-) 4.5 percentage points.
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