Buhari Receives 2019 Nomination Forms As The Economist Predicts Loss At The Polls

President Muhammadu Buhari has been presented with his presidential nomination and expression of interest forms.

The President disclosed this on Tuesday, shortly after being presented the forms at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Just now at the State House I was presented with the APC Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms, by the Nigeria Consolidation Ambassadors Network (NCAN). A mixture of familiar faces, as well as new ones,united by a common vision of a secure & prosperous Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/OH0RaQZl1l

— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) September 11, 2018

This is coming a few days after The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research unit of The Economist Magazine of London published a report, suggesting that the APC candidate is likely to lose the Presidential election.

In its latest country forecast overview on Nigeria, the magazine predicted that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will defeat the ruling APC candidate in the upcoming 2019 presidential election.

The EIU, which gave an array of reasons for its prediction, said even though it would be a close call, the opposition PDP would win the election. It predicted slowdown in economic activities in Nigeria as politics takes centre stage.

The Economist’s report came to the fore a day after the New Telegraph published another research report by a multinational banking and financial services company, HSBC, which noted that a second term for President Muhammadu Buhari would damage the country’s economy further.

On September 5, a group known as the Nigeria Consolidation Ambassador Network (NCAN) presented a cheque of N45 million to Adams Oshiomhole, chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the purchase of presidential nomination form for Mr Buhari.

Presenting the cheque at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, Sanusi Musa, coordinator of the group, said the decision to buy the form was informed by “the need to consolidate on the foundation for a better Nigeria”.

Musa was quoted as saying the group could not handover the documents to the president immediately after purchase as he was in China on official engagements.

“The president is just back, so we have not yet presented the form to the president. We are in the process of sending it. We will send it to him,” he had said.