•Opposition votes scattered
An independent pollster has tipped Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State to retain his seat in the Saturday election by a landslide.
According to the survey conducted and released by LAKEWHYTE Communications, the incumbent governor and candidate of the All Progressives Peoples Congress (APC) would haul at least 68 percent of the total votes across the three senatorial zones.
His closest rivals and candidates of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would score paltry votes of 8 percent, 14 percent and PDP 10 percent, respectively.
“When people were asked which of the political parties they preferred, based on the factors of trust quotient, experience, believability, track record, handling of the economy and security, 68 percent of the respondents chose His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma of the APC. Some of the respondents gave APGA 8 percent of their votes, LP, 14 percent of the votes and PDP 10 percent.
“Whereas there was overwhelming support grossing between 85 percent and 90 percent in some LGAs and others as low as 40 percent and 45 percent, the intrinsic and germaine output and outcome is that there was no LGA where His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma, did not meet and surpass the constitutionally required 25 percent,” the survey said.
The report said it sampled 13,500 respondents representing 500 persons per local government area across the 27LGAs.
The 68 percent affirmation support for Governor Uzodimma is representative of 9,045 respondents drawn from groups including artisans, transporters, civil servants, rural dwellers, professionals, first-time voters, pensioners, students, youth, women groups and town union leadership.
Assessing the performance of the governor, the report revealed: “When the respondents were asked to rate the performance of His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma, in the following critical areas of governance engagement – education, agriculture, infrastructure, job creation, empowerment, healthcare delivery, environment, tourism and security, he evened out at an average of 65 percent of the respondents.”
The report added that “contrary to the make-believe attitudinisation of the opposition political parties and their governorship candidates that they are set to effect a change by capturing more votes at the polls, the reality on ground, based on interaction with variegated segments of the voting publics, is that their adventure is a failed one even before its commencement. One of the obvious facts revealed during the survey is that each of the three opposition political parties would be dividing and sharing votes from the same pool of voters with anti-APC sentiments, yet they have the hope of defeating Governor Hope Uzodimma. This is illusory at best and a fool’s errand at worst.”
Th report concluded that “based on our findings as enumerated and outlined above, His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma, is set to win the Saturday, November 11, 2023 governorship election in Imo State, with an average of over 66.5 percent (Governor Uzodimma has 68 percent votes ahead of his other contestants based on six factors; and 65 percent based on performance in nine governance areas).
“He also meets the constitutional requirement of at least 25 percent of votes in at least two thirds of the 27 LGAs – Governor Uzodimma will score more than 25 percent in all the 27 LGAs as reflected by respondents across the 27 LGAs.”