Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, has edged other candidates in the Edo State governorship election, according to the latest poll published by Africa Polling Institute (API).
Africa Polling Institute (API) is an independent, non-profit research think tank that conducts opinion polls and social research to inform public policy and advocacy in sub-Saharan Africa.
The poll, conducted from August 12th to 16th, 2024, surveyed Edo State citizens and voters to capture their perceptions and intentions ahead of the upcoming election.
About 72% of respondents in the poll said they have made up their minds on which candidate to vote for during the election, while 28% remain undecided.
Examining the voting intentions of respondents who have chosen a candidate, approximately 60% of the decided voters say they support Ighodalo, 28% favour Sen. Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while 12% are backing Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP).
The survey also highlighted that 94% of respondents are registered voters with permanent voters’ cards (PVCs), and 83% have given considerable thought to the election.
However, confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is mixed, with 47% lacking confidence in its ability to conduct a free and fair election, 34% having some confidence, and 19% expressing complete confidence. Notably, 80% of respondents feel safe going out to vote on election day.
Regarding the factors influencing voter decisions, 57% cited the candidate’s competence, followed by personality (42%), experience and track record (36%), political party (34%), and party manifesto (16%).
Giving insights into the methodology, the Professor Bell Ihua-led API, according to a statement made available to the newsmen yesterday, said the state-wide poll was conducted through telephone interviews with 2,687 randomly selected voters across Edo State’s 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs).
All interviews were conducted in five major languages spoken in Edo State: English, Pidgin English, Benin, Esan, and Etsako languages.
All LGAs were proportionally represented in the poll, and the average time per completed interview was 8 minutes. Post-stratification gender and senatorial district weights were applied to the data to make it more representative, to allow for more accurate population totals of estimates, and to reduce non-response bias.
The weights assigned were in proportion to the 2006 population figures. Given the sample size, there is 95% confidence that the results are statistically precise – within a range of plus or minus 5%.
. TheWitness