The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has again predicted that Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will win the February 16 election.
EIU is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, also owners of the The Economist, the newspaper.
The forecast was published on EIU website on Friday.
According to the report, Atiku will come to power with a “sweeping free market agenda”, which may be too “monumental to implement in full”.
The forecast read: “A general election on February 16th is expected to yield a change in government, although the poll itself, and particularly the prospect of a messy election dispute, comes with significant downside risks to political stability.
“Our baseline forecast is for Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party to win outright, averting crisis. He will come to power with a sweeping free market agenda, although the overhaul that this implies will be too monumental to implement in full.”
Muhammadu Buhari
In 2015, the magazine also predicted victory for Muhammadu Buhari over then-incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, stating that Buhari was “the least awful choice,” which would be chosen “with a heavy heart”.
“Voters have ample cause to send Mr Jonathan packing. In a country where power has often changed through the barrel of a gun, the opposition All Progressives Congress has a real chance of winning through the ballot box,” The Economist said in 2015.
