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How Long is Enough?


Abuja, Nigeria. March 2011.



The recent political unrest sweeping through the Middle East and North African states has brought to the fore, the question of what is a reasonable length of time for a president to effectively rule a country. These developments prompted NOI Polls to conduct a survey to get the opinions of Nigerians on how long is enough time to rule a country.

The survey results showed that an overwhelming proportion (89%) of respondents think a president should not be allowed to rule indefinitely. Rather, about 60% of respondents think 0 – 4 years is adequate time to rule a country effectively. 30% believe 5 – 8 years would be more appropriate, while only less than 1% support a period over 8 years.


The poll shows a general consensus among respondents on the need for a time limit on a presidential term. Though, it is noteworthy that 1% of respondents are in favor of indefinite rule.

Survey Methods

These results are based on 1095 telephone interviews with randomly selected phone–owning Nigerians aged 18 years and older, across the six geographical regions of the country. The poll was conducted between February 23rd -25th, 2011. With a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 4 percentage points of what they would have been if the entire population had been surveyed. This poll is part of the ongoing snap poll exercise conducted by NOI Polls to rapidly assess public sentiments following various social, political or economic events. NOI Polls – a Nigeria based opinion research organization works in technical partnership with Gallup Polls (USA), to conduct periodic opinion polls on various socioeconomic issues in Nigeria.

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