Ahead of the forthcoming 2023 governorship elections, a recent statewide opinion poll commissioned by ANAP Foundation showed that the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) Governorship Candidate, Abba Kabir Yusuf, is the most favoured to win the election.

KANO FOCUS reports that the poll conducted by NOIPolls Limited in October revealed a close race between Mr Yusuf and Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC). There is an 18-point gap between the pair and other candidates.

“The results showed a significant lead for Abba Kabir Yusuf with 29 per cent of voters proposing to vote for him if the governorship election were to be conducted today; and 21 per cent proposing to vote for Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the APC who fell in second place,” the foundation said.

“Muhammad Sadiq Wali If the PDP was a distant third with only 3 per cent of voters proposing to vote for him.

“Abba Kabir Yusuf’s 9 per cent-point lead at this early stage is significant, but not sufficient to separate him completely from his main challenger as the top 3 candidates scored 29 per cent, 21 per cent and 3per cent, the organisers stated.

“However, the poll showed that undecided voters and those who prefer not to reveal their preferred candidate add up to a whopping 30per cent and 11per cent respectively. The gender split of undecided voters shows that 35 per cent of women are undecided versus 22 per cent of male voters.

“Poll Question: Suppose the governorship election is being conducted today, who are you likely to vote for?

“The percentage of registered voters is as follows in each of the districts – 88per cent in Kano South, 92per cent in Kano Central, and 93per cent in Kano North.

“When asked if respondents were aware of the various candidates vying for Governorship, data gathered showed that 85 per cent of the respondents were aware of Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the APC, 82 per cent were aware of Abba Kabir Yusuf of the NNPP, 67per cent were aware of Mohammed Sadiq Wali of PDP and 62 per cent were aware of Sha’aban Ibrahim Sharada of the ADP.

“All other candidates scored below 50per cent in terms of name recognition.

“Furthermore, the data summarises top four reasons why voters are more inclined to vote in the forthcoming elections, these include – Continuity of Educational Policy (26 per cent), Infrastructure (21per cent), Insecurity (16 per cent) and Unemployment (11per cent) amongst others.

“Thirty-one per cent of the respondents would love to see their preferred governorship candidates participate in a televised interview and/or debate, with the interview/debates spanning across topics like their party manifestos, personality recognition and competence check amongst others.

“It is worthy of note that 71 per cent of those aged 18-25, 85 per cent of those aged 26-35, 85per cent of those aged 36-45, 82per cent of those aged 46-60 and 82per cent of those aged 61+ responded they would definitely vote in the coming elections.

“The age groups that expressed the greatest willingness to vote were those between 26-35 years and 36-45 years.

The organiser of the poll also said the poll indicated that there might be an increase in the turnout of voters in the state.

“The Poll shows that almost 8 in 10 registered voters are absolutely certain that they would be voting in the next governorship election. If they stay committed, then we could witness a huge turnout in the March 2023 governorship elections.

The organiser of the poll said despite the significant lead of the two frontrunners, what would eventually decide the outcome of the election is who undecided voters decided to vote for.

“While this governorship poll result shows some significant trends, it is key to note that the battle ahead lies with the undecided/swing voters as they would ultimately decide which candidate emerges as governor of Kano State in the 2023 governorship elections.

“In summary, our October 2022 Polls are inconclusive in terms of establishing a clear winner as the undecided voters are enough to turn the tables. However, ANAP Foundation has concluded that the trends are clear enough to establish the front runners and so our subsequent polls will concentrate on the 2 leading candidates only, the foundation said.