The Economist believes Atiku may become President

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Africa team, believes Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may win the 2019 elections.

While not providing details of how they arrived at their view, they expect the victory to be a narrow one.

#NigeriaDecides2019 : Less than 2 weeks before #Nigeria‘s presidential election. Abubakar has floated idea of corruption amnesty. It is arguably an impolitic time for such a delicate proposal.

— The EIU Africa team (@TheEIU_Africa) February 1, 2019

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Abubakar is hard-pressed to convince voters that he is a clean politician, having been on the receiving end of numerous graft allegations in the past. We retain out forecast for #Abubakar to win, but expected margin of victory is narrowing as the poll approaches.

— The EIU Africa team (@TheEIU_Africa) February 1, 2019

In a country brief on its website, the EIU had earlier hinted at the possible actions the former Vice President could take if he wins the coming elections.

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.