A policy think tank, Nextier, has revealed in a survey that the South-West has been recognised as the battleground for major presidential contenders from various parties in the 2023 presidential election.

The independent survey was carried out among registered voters in rural communities across the country.

The study, which our correspondent saw on Monday, was a face-to-face poll of registered voters in rural communities across 12 Nigerian states.

Rural communities were characterised in the study as local government areas with no tertiary educational institutions.

The survey team conducted the polls in two states in each of the six geopolitical zones in the country.

It targeted one Peoples Democratic Party-controlled state and one ruling All Progressives Congress-controlled state in each geopolitical region.

The survey excluded the home states of the leading presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the major parties.

According to the survey results released over the weekend, Nextier used a sample size of 2,000 respondents.

The states in the survey included Nasarawa (APC), Benue (PDP), Gombe (APC), Bauchi (PDP), Kebbi (APC), Sokoto (PDP), Cross River (APC), Edo (PDP), Imo (APC), Abia (PDP), Ogun (APC), and Oyo (PDP).

It further emphasised that all survey respondents were registered to vote in the 2023 elections.

Analysing respondents’ voting preferences, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP leads in the North-West with 59.8 per cent and in the North-East with 50.3 per cent, with Bola Tinubu as second in those regions with 25.4 per cent and 27.2 per cent, respectively.

Peter Obi leads in the North-Central with 59.8 per cent, the South-South with 67.3 per cent and South-East with 94 per cent.

The South West is the most contested region, with Tinubu leading with 37.4 per cent and Obi in second place with 24 per cent.

About 19.8 per cent of the surveyed voters in the region were still undecided on their preferred candidate.

Punch