Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State is set to win by a massive votes haul of over 68% and retain his seat in the Saturday, November 11, 2023, governorship election in the state based on a survey report conducted and released by LAKEWHYTE Communications, a Lagos based consultancy think-tank.
The survey was conducted between August and October, 2023.
Uzodimma of the All Progressives Peoples Congress, APC, who emerged winner, was followed by APGA, 8%; LP, 14%; and PDP 10%.
According to the survey, “when people were asked which of the political parties they preferred, based on the factors of Trust quotient, Experience, Believability, Track Record, handling of the Economy and Security, 68% of the respondents chose His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma of APC. Some of the respondents gave APGA 8% of their votes; LP, 14% of the votes; and PDP 10%.
“Whereas there was overwhelming support grossing between 85% and 90% in some LGAs and others as low as 40% and 45%, the intrinsic and Germaine output and outcome is that there was no LGA where His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma, did not meet and surpass the constitutionally required 25%.”
The report said it sampled 13,500 respondents in total, representing 500 persons per local government area. Imo State has 27LGAs.
The 68% affirmation support for Governor Uzodimma is representative of a total of 9,045 respondents.
The respondents were drawn from groups made up of but not limited to Artisans; Transporters; Civil Servants; Rural Dwellers; Professionals; 1st-time voters; Pensioners; Students; Youth; Women groups; Town Union Leadership.
Assessing the performance of the governor, the report revealed that “When the respondents were asked to rate the performance of His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma, in the following critical areas of governance engagement – Education, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Job Creation, Empowerment, HealthCare Delivery, Environment, Tourism and Security – he evened out at an average of 65% of the respondents.”
The report also observed that “contrary to the make -believe attitudinisation of the opposition political parties and their governorship candidates that they are set to effect a change by capturing more votes at the polls, the reality on ground, based on interaction with variegated segments of the voting publics, is that their adventure is a failed one even before its commencement.
One of the obvious facts revealed during the survey is that each of the three opposition political parties would be dividing and sharing votes from the same pool of voters with anti-APC sentiments, yet they have the hope of defeating Governor Hope Uzodimma. This is illusory at best and a fool’s errand at worst.”
In its conclusion, the report declared that “based on our findings as enumerated and outlined above, His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma, is set to win the Saturday, November 11, 2023 governorship election in Imo State, with an average of over 66.5% (Governor Uzodimma has 68% votes ahead of his other contestants based on six factors; and 65% based on performance in nine governance areas).
“He also meets the constitutional requirement of at least 25% of votes in at least two thirds of the 27 LGAs – Governor Uzodimma will score more than 25% in all the 27 LGAs as reflected by respondents across the 27 LGAs”
