A Rivers State opinion poll conducted by ANAP Foundation has released the possible outcome of the Rivers governorship election slated for March 11.

The poll was conducted in collaboration with NOI Polls Ltd. for Rivers and concluded in February before the presidential elections.

Atedo Peterside, the president of ANAP Foundation said in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday that Siminalayi Fubara, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate “is the most likely candidate to succeed Gov. Nyesom Wike”.

He said the results showed a significant lead for Mr Fubara with 20 per cent of voters proposing to vote for him if the governorship elections were to be conducted today.

He said 11 per cent proposed to vote for Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who fell in second place, adding that Tonye Cole of the APC candidate was third with 10 per cent.

He said that Dumo Lulu-Briggs of the Accord Party came fourth with six per cent of voters proposing to vote for him.

Mr Peterside said Mr Fubara’s nine per cent point lead at this stage was significant but not sufficient to separate him from a pack of candidates scoring 11 per cent, 10 per cent, six per cent, among others.

Mr Peterside described it as a severely fragmented race, adding that undecided voters and those who preferred not to reveal their preferred candidates added up to a whopping 24 per cent.

According to him, this is likely due to the fact that the PDP is the most popular political party in the state and the current governor is a member of the party.

“As such, the PDP is likely to maintain its hold on the state and Fubara is the most likely candidate to win the governorship race,” he said.

He said the primary objective of the poll was to gauge the opinions of voters in the state on the likely pattern of voting in the governorship election.

Mr Peterside said that it also determined the key issues that would influence their voting decision.

(NAN)