Data Say People Really Want End to Godfatherism, Not Liking Obaseki as Expected

 

According to the results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr Godwin Obaseki led his rivals by 66,310 votes in 2016 and 84,236 votes in 2020. Despite leading during the two elections, our severity analysis of the results indicates that people voted not because they like him in 2020. They voted because of the need to end godfatherism in the state. As a candidate of the All Progressives Congress in 2016, Mr Obaseki had results that had significant impact than what he attained in 2020.

        Exhibit 1: Obaseki and Oshiomole’s Popularity in 2016 and 2020 in 38 Weeks 

        Source: Google Trends, 2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2020

Our analysis further suggests that Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu could have won the election if he contested on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party. This is in line with the fact that he had results with better impact than Mr Obaseki. Voters would have used the crisis between Mr Obaseki and Mr Oshiomole, which established possible negative impacts of godfatherism in the state, to elect him, our analysis suggests.

                  Exhibit 2: Two Candidates’ Results Severity in 2016

                     Source: INEC, 2016; INEC, 2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2020

                       Exhibit 3: Two Candidates’ Results Severity in 2020

Source: INEC, 2016; INEC, 2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2020



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