SPOKESPERSON of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bayo Ononuga has said the party’s candidate Bola Tinubu would win the presidential election at the first ballot.
Speaking during a Twitter Space organised by The ICIR on Saturday, February 11, Onanuga also rejected polls which projected a rerun in the presidential election.
The Twitter Space was themed, ‘The APC Strategy: Defining The Tinubu Manifesto’
Despite most of the pre-election polls being conducted with data, Onanuga dismissed them as lacking in empirical evidence, describing them as ‘armchair polls’
Several polls have been conducted prior to the forthcoming presidential election, with recent ones by NEXIER and Bloomberg predicting the victory of Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi.
NEXIER in its polls earlier reported noted that although Obi had the highest poll, it is unlikely to give him outright victory in the first ballot.
According to the Bloomberg, two-thirds of respondents said they intend to vote for Obi.
The results of the survey conducted for Bloomberg News by Premise Data Corp were published on Friday – 15 days before the vote to choose President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor.
Of the 93 per cent of participants who said they have decided how to vote, 66 per cent named Obi as their preferred choice.
However, Onanuga said Tinubu is the candidate to beat in the election.
According to him, Tinubu’s chances are further boosted with control of 21 states by the ruling APC and underground support being offered by some of the G-5 governors of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He also expressed concerns over reports published on the APC candidate by some media houses.
“Many media houses attacking our principal have an agenda, and that is part of the reasons why we don’t respond to call door interviews by such media outfits.”
Onanuga noted that the APC is sure of victory as a result of findings from field reports and internal polls conducted by an internal organ of the Presidential Campaign Council.
Despite admitting the key challenges of the current administration to consist of security and economy, he said there are lots of positives to take away from the current administration.
“Buhari is an unlucky President. He needs to be given kudos in most of his legacy projects like the second Niger Bridge, investments in roads and airports infrastructure,” he said.
Onanuga, in the same vein, assured that Tinubu’s administration, with the mandate of renewed hope, would provide solutions to the key problems of insecurity and economy.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.