An opinion poll commissioned by Bloomberg News has placed Peter Obi as the leading candidate in the race to become Nigeria’s next President.

The presidential election scheduled for February next year is expected to be a three-horse race between Labour Party’s Obi, the All Progressives Congress’ Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar.

According to Bloomberg, a clear majority of respondents to the opinion poll said they intend to vote for Obi, a former Anambra state governor.

The results of the survey conducted for Bloomberg News by Premise Data Corp. were published on Wednesday as the official campaign to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari kicked off.

“Of the 92% of participants who said they’ve decided how to vote, 72% named Obi as their first choice,” Bloomberg reported.

“Of those who are still unsure, 45% said the 61-year-old is their preferred candidate.”

On its methodology, Bloomberg said Premise Data Corp. surveyed 3,973 Nigerians from September 5 – 20.

“Respondents to the app-based poll were selected from quotas developed by age, gender and location across the country’s six geopolitical zones,” the report added.

“Results were then weighted against the original quotas to ensure national representation.”