Journalist Thomas Dixon Questions IGR’s 2028 Flagbearer Survey Methodology
Journalist and social commentator Thomas Dixon has questioned the methodology used by the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR) in its latest survey of potential flagbearer contenders for Sierra Leone’s 2028 presidential election, arguing that combining responses from ordinary party supporters and party delegates produces a misleading aggregate score.
Speaking on Liberty Online TV, Dixon said the two groups represent different populations and questioned the rationale for combining their preferences, noting that ordinary party supporters and delegates do not vote together at party conventions.
He cited First Lady Fatima Bio’s reported support of 34.3 per cent among ordinary SLPP supporters and 61.7 per cent among delegates, which resulted in a combined score of 48 per cent.
Dixon argued that the preferences of ordinary party supporters should be distinguished from those of delegates who participate in selecting a party’s flagbearer.
“The aggregate score mixed two populations, and two populations do not vote together,” Dixon said.
He also questioned the application of the same methodology to APC contender Mohamed Omodu Kamara, popularly known as Jagaban, arguing that the combined figures did not adequately distinguish between the preferences of ordinary party supporters and delegates.
Dixon further questioned how the APC delegate sample was established, given that the party had not yet held its convention to select a flagbearer.
He raised additional concerns about what he described as sampling flaws, including disproportionate sampling and inconsistencies between the stated sampling design and the sample size.
He specifically questioned the report’s reference to sampling 50 per cent of APC constituency delegates, arguing that the figure did not appear to correspond with the 600 APC delegates included in the survey sample.
“I would like to advise my good friend Andrew Lavali and the IGR next time to consider their sampling flaws,” Dixon said.
He called on IGR Executive Director Andrew Lavali and the research team to address the concerns when conducting future surveys.
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