Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko
By James Sowole
An opinion survey conducted by a body, Gallop Polls Nigeria Limited, Monday released the results of its own poll, declaring the incumbent governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, as leading other governorship candidates with wide margin.
This is coming barely one week after an opinion poll said to have been conducted by an independent body, POLLSTAR, rated the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olusola Oke, as a leading candidate in October 20 governorship election in Ondo State.
In the results, the company stated that about 77 per cent of the respondents who participated in a week-long opinion poll it conducted on the election preferred the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Mimiko.
Principal Consultant of the firm, Chief Anthony Chigbo, while briefing journalists on the results, said 11,164 respondents out of the 14, 500 that participated in the exercise, voted Mimiko, who is contesting for a second term in office.
Chigbo also said 1,420 respondents, which is about 9.8 per cent, voted for the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, while 1, 230 which is about 8.5 per cent voted for Oke.
According to him, 150 respondents, representing 1.0 per cent, voted for the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Mr. Soji Ehinlanwo while 276 other respondents, which is 1.9 per cent, had preferences for other candidates.
Chigbo, who said: “A plus minus one per cent margin of error was observed in the empirical exercise,” added that 260 entries, representing 1.8 of the voters, were voided.
“Entrance and exit polls is our next goal. Entrances polls shall be conducted via short message service (sms) on Friday, October 19, 2012. Eligible registered voters are expected to vote for the candidate they made up their minds to vote for the following day.
“Respondents are expected to send Ondo AK to 31077 and vote for the Action Congress of Nigeria while those voting for Peoples Democratic Party should send Ondo OK to 31077.
“The electorate, who wish to vote for the Congress for Progressive Change, should send Ondo HE to 31077 while those wishing to vote for the Labour Party would send Ondo OM to 31077.”
“Exit polls take place immediately after voting on October 20 when respondents are expected to use the same format to text the candidate they voted for to 31077.
“Voter participation in the next two polls is highly encouraged because it predicts without flaw, the expected result,” he added.
Chigbo, therefore, urged all eligible registered voters in the state to participate in both the entrance and exit polls because it would be a weapon to defend their votes and make them count.