Atiku, Obi, Tinubu Consolidate Positions Few Days to Polls

•Voter Apathy Imminent •Religion, Ethnicity Remain Major Factor •Election Still Too Close to Call

BY AMOS ESELE WITH UKANDI ODEY, AMOS OWEI, BASSEY ANIEKAN, UDEME UTIP, TUNDE OMOLEHIN, GEORGE MARTINS, SAMPSON UHUEGBE, SUNDAY OGBU, MAIMUNATU IBRAHIM & SEGUN AYINDE

In the first installment of this projection in our January 15-21 edition, 41 days to the upcoming presidential and National Assembly poll on February 25, 2023, we isolated clear forces already at play that would determine the fate of the contestants. These factors have not changed, seven days to the election. These factors include zoning, antecedents of the various presidential candidates, strength of parties, religion and ethnicity.

What has slightly changed is that clearly, only three candidates are in the race. Amazingly, Rabiu Kwankwanso, who had waxed strong to be considered as a formidable threat appeared to have been confined to his Kano enclave, the state he governed for two terms.

THEWILL checks in this edition of our special presidential election projection series across the states of the federation, show that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Peter Obi of the Labour Party and the candidate of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are in contention for the votes of 93 million registered voters composed 49. 5 million males, 44.4 million females with a high percentage of 37 million youths. According to new, disturbing findings, another totally unexpected mix has come into play: Apathy. The economic downturn occasioned by the negative impact of the naira redesign and cashless policy which has generated violent reactions in some states across the country has raised the high possibility of voter apathy. Even the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has raised the alarm that cash crunch may hamper its operational and logistics working in the days ahead. Investigation shows that the government will provide the electoral umpire with cash in its fulfilment of its commitment to ensure the conduct of the poll.

According to THEWILL correspondents' month-long investigation, the major contenders have narrowed to