The Economist magazine has predicted that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, will win the February 16 election.
Atiku, a former vice president under Olusegun Obasanjo administration from 1999 till 2007, is the main contender to incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari for the presidency.
“#NigeriaDecides2019: Less than 2 weeks before #Nigeria‘s presidential election. Abubakar has floated idea of corruption amnesty. It is arguably an impolitic time for such a delicate proposal,” Economist Intelligence Unit Africa tweeted.
“We retain our forecast for #Abubakar to win, but expected margin of victory is narrowing as the poll approaches.”
Similarly in 2015, the magazine predicted victory for Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the then-incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP.
“Voters have ample cause to send Mr Jonathan packing. In a country where power has often changed through the barrel of a gun, the opposition All Progressives Congress has a real chance of winning through the ballot box,” The Economist said in 2015.
The magazine said although the election contest would be competitive, Atiku and his political party will win the historic election.
Economist noted that Atiku was poised for victory despite numerous allegations of corrupt practices against the former vice presiden.
“Abubakar is hard-pressed to convince voters that he is a clean politician, having been on the receiving end of numerous graft allegations in the past.
It added then that Buhari was “the least awful choice,” which would be chosen “with a heavy heart”.
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