An independent survey conducted by an international policy and governance think-tank, the Council on African World Affairs, has rated Mr Valentine Ozigbo as the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) aspirant with the highest chances of winning the upcoming Anambra governorship election.

In the statement made available to the press on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, the Washington DC-based Council on African World Affairs announced the results of the survey, which was carried out by an Abuja consulting firm, Eagle Badger.

Professor JP Afam Ifedi, the Executive Director of the think tank, who signed the statement, said that as a non-partisan organisation, it is invested in deepening and strengthening democracy in Nigeria by supporting political institutions in the conduct of credible election country.

“We have been providing these non-partisan interventions in Nigerian elections, and we aim to provide research-based, evidence-based information that will guide policymakers and educate Nigerian voters,” Professor Ifedi said.

“Plans are in progress to carry out similar research exercises for the upcoming Osun and Ekiti gubernatorial elections, as well as the 2023 general elections. The research for 2023 is ongoing, and the first report will be out in a couple of weeks.

“This is to provide credible empirical information to the public and the political parties and institutions with a view of expanding the democratic space and making Nigeria better.

“We commissioned this survey for all the political parties participating in the Anambra 2021 governorship election, and what we are giving to you today is the report on the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) report, which is the first to come out,” Ifedi, a political economist who teaches at Howard University, said.

A copy of the survey made available to our correspondent showed that the research was carried out in the 21 local government areas of the state through telephone, with five criteria.

“At the end of this survey, Mr Valentine Ozigbo received an overwhelming majority of the votes with 50% of the 981 PDP delegates surveyed saying they believed that he was most likely to win the November governorship election of the 16 PDP aspirants,” Ifedi revealed.

“Senator Uche Ekwunife came a distant second place with 16%, and Dr Obiora Okonkwo came third with 13%.”

The think-tank said it also looked at the state’s zoning arrangement and found that over 62 per cent of the delegates favoured that the next governor of the state be elected from the Anambra South Senatorial zone.

The research report revealed that the poll focused on the ability of the individual aspirants to tackle; insecurity, unemployment, infrastructure, education, and healthcare in the southeastern state.

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