March 18: New Poll Projects Fubara As Next Rivers Gov

A new opinion poll in Rivers State conducted by ANAP Foundation has projected possible outcome of the Rivers State governorship election now rescheduled for March 18.
The poll was conducted in collaboration with NOI Polls Ltd for Rivers State, and concluded in February before the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The President, ANAP Foundation, Mr Atedo Peterside, said in a statement in Abuja last Wednesday, that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Sir Siminialayi Fubara “is the most likely candidate to succeed Governor Nyesom Wike”.
He said the results showed a significant lead for Fubara with 20 per cent of voters proposing to vote for him, if the governorship elections were to be conducted today.
The results showed 11 per cent proposed to vote for Sen. Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who fell in second place, while Arc Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate came third with 10 per cent.
He said that Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs of the Accord Party came fourth with six per cent of voters proposing to vote for him.
Peterside said Fubara’s nine per cent point lead at this stage was significant but not sufficient to separate him from a pack of candidates scoring 11 per cent, 10 per cent, six per cent, among others.
He described it as a severely fragmented race, adding that undecided voters and those who preferred not to reveal their preferred candidates added up to a whopping 24 per cent.
According to him, this is likely due to the fact that the PDP was the most popular political party in the state and the current governor was a member of the party.
“As such, the PDP is likely to maintain its hold on the state, and Fubara is the most likely candidate to win the governorship race,” he said.
He said the primary objective of the poll was to gauge the opinions of voters in the state on the likely pattern of voting in the governorship election.
Peterside said that it also determined the key issues that would influence their voting decision.