Abuja, Nigeria. September 11th, 2015– Latest governance poll results released by NOIPolls for the month of August 2015 have revealed that the President’s approval rating over the past one month experienced a substantial 8-points increase from July 2015 to stand at 77 percent; as indicated by a larger proportion of Nigerians surveyed. This rating represents his highest rating over three months since the commencement of his approval rating by NOIPolls in June 2015, where he started off at 70 percent. The general increase in the approval rating of the President is seen mostly across 5 geo-political zones with the North-West zone (93 percent) accounting for the highest number of Nigerians who approve of the President’s job performance.
The overall rating of the President for August 2015 is bolstered by positive reviews such as ‘his campaign against corruption’ (21 percent), ‘improved security’ (18 percent) and ‘fuel availability’ (7 percent) amongst others. On the other hand, majority of Nigerians who disapprove (8 percent) of the job performance of the President were of the opinion that ‘there hasn’t been any feasible change in governance’ (43 percent), and that he is ‘biased in selection of key leaders’ (26 percent) among others reasons.
More findings reveals that most Nigerians (60 percent) reported that power supply to their households ‘has improved’ within the past one month and this represents a 2-points decline from July 2015. The North-West, South-East and South-West zones have the largest proportion of respondents who experienced an improved power supply with 66 percent each. On the contrary, 20 percent of the respondents lamented over the epileptic state of power supply to their households, stating power supply ‘remains poor and has gone worse’ over the past one month.
Finally, to sustain this rating, clear indications from the poll points to the need for sustenance of the President’s fight against corruption and continuous improvement in the state of security. Also there is need for the President to focus on key areas (such as power and job creation) that affect the overall economy, as suggested by Nigerians in a previous poll conducted by NOIPolls on top economic issues Nigerians want the President to focus on.[1] These are some of the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in the week of August 30th 2015.
These results represent the third approval rating for President Muhammadu Buhari’s job performance and the eight in the 2015 monthly series of governance polls, conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding the approval rating of the President, and the current state of power supply in the country.
Respondents to the poll were asked two specific questions. The first sought to assess the opinion of Nigerians on the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari over the past 1 month. Respondents were asked: Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of President Buhari in the past 1 month? Responses to this question revealed that a total of 77 percent of adult Nigerians surveyed approve of the President’s performance, 8 percent disapprove of his performance, while 15 percent of the respondents remained neutral as they neither approve nor disapprove.
An analysis of the President’s performance by geo-political zone reveals that the North-West zone (93 percent: 70 percent + 23 percent) and the North-East zone (92 percent: 55 percent + 37 percent) accounts for the largest proportion of respondents who approve of the President’s job performance and this ratings generally impacted on the overall increase of the President’s approval rating. In addition, the South-South zone (23 percent: 10 percent + 13 percent) has the largest ratio of respondents who disapprove of the President’s job performance whereas, the South-East zone (15 percent) accounts for the highest share of respondents who neither approve nor disapprove of the President’s job performance so far.
Furthermore, respondents were asked to state the reasons for approving or disapproving the President’s performance. To this effect, ‘Improved power supply’ (29 percent) topped the lists of reasons given by Nigerians for approving the President’s job performance in August 2015. The President’s ‘campaign against corruption’ (21 percent), ‘improving security’ (18 percent) and ‘fuel availability’ (7 percent) were amongst other reasons responsible for the approval of the President’s job performance by Nigerians. On the contrary, respondents who disapprove the job performance were of the opinion that ‘there ‘hasn’t been any feasible changes in governance’ (43 percent), while also citing that the President is ‘biased in selection of key leaders’ (26 percent), while 17 percent stated that it’s ‘too early to evaluate his performance’ among others reasons.
Monthly trend analysis on the President’s performance rating within his first 100 days in office (3 months) reveals a significant 8-points increase when compared to July 2015. This current rating represents his highest rating since the commencement of his approval rating in June 2015 where he started off at 70 percent.
Similarly, a 3-month trend analysis of the President’s approval rating by geo-political zones reveals that his rating increased across 5 geo-political zones from July 2015 to August 2015, with the largest increase seen in the South-West zone recorded at 16-points. The President’s performance saw a 10-point decline in the North-Central zone. Moreover, the President’s performance rating in the Northern regions ranged between 71 -93 percent, while his rating in the Southern regions ranged between 45-75 percent over the period in view.
Finally, to find out the state of power supply to Nigerian households over the past month, respondents were asked: How would you describe power supply in your area in the last 1 month? The result reveals that most Nigerians (60 percent) reported that power supply to their households ‘has improved’ within the past one month. Conversely, 11 percent of the respondents affirmed that power supply has “remained poor’; 9 percent claimed ‘it’s very bad and has gone worse’, whereas 20 percent said ‘there’s no difference at all’ suggesting their power supply neither improved nor worsened over the past one month.
Further analysis by geo-political zone indicates that the North-West, South-East and South-West zones account for the largest proportion of respondents who experienced an improved power supply with 66 percent each. The South-South zone (39 percent) has the highest ratio of respondents who stated that there’s no difference at all in the rate of power supply to their households, whereas the North-East zone recorded the highest number of respondents who saw worsened state of power supply in August 2015.
In conclusion, almost 8 in 10 Nigerians approve of the President’s performance over the past one month indicating an 8-points increase from July 2015 and the North-West zone contributed to the general increase of his approval. Finally, the survey reveals that 60 percent of Nigerian household claimed they saw improvement in power supply to their households. The North-West, South-East and South-West zones account for the largest proportion of respondents who experienced an improved power supply, the North-East zone recorded the highest number of respondents who saw worsened state of power supply in August 2015.a
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted in the week of August 30th 2015. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed. With a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise – within a range of plus or minus 3%. NOIPolls Limited is No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa. We conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria. More information is available at www.noi-polls.com
Disclaimer
This press release has been produced by NOIPolls Limited to provide information on all issues which form the subject matter of the document. Kindly note that while we are willing to share results from our polls with the general public, we only request that NOIPolls be acknowledged as author whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited or published.
NOIPolls hereby certifies that all the views expressed in this document accurately reflect its views of respondents surveyed for the poll, and background information is based on information from various sources that it believes are reliable; however, no representation is made that it is accurate or complete. Whilst reasonable care has been taken in preparing this document, no responsibility or liability is accepted for errors or fact or for any views expressed herein by NOIPolls for actions taken as a result of information provided in this report. Any ratings, forecasts, estimates, opinions or views herein constitute a judgment as at the date of this document. If the date of this document is not current, the views and content may not reflect NOIPolls’ current findings and/or thinking.
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[1] http://www.noi-polls.com/root/index.php?pid=309&ptid=1&parentid=13
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