Abuja, Nigeria. April 2, 2013 – Latest weekly poll results released by NOI Polls Limited has revealed that less than 5 in 10 Nigerians (46%) approve of the job performance of President Goodluck Jonathan for the month of March 2013, this marks an 8-point decrease from his rating in February 2013 (54%). The results also indicate that 5 in 10 Nigerians rate the performance of the current administration as average; a marked 2-point decrease from last months’ ratings. In addition, 31% of Nigerians say there have been improvements in power supply to their households in the month of March. This is a 13-point decrease from the perception rating of improvement in power supply in February (44%), presently majority of Nigerians (46%) say power supply has gone bad in the month of March, up from 31% in February. These are the key findings for this month’s governance poll.
The results presented are the third in the new monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOI Polls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding three crucial elements – the job approval rating of the president, the performance rating of the current administration, and the perception of power supply in the country.
Respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions. The first question sought to gauge the approval rating of President Goodluck Jonathan over the past 1 month: Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of the president in the past 1 month? From the results, the majority (41%) stated that they approve of the President’s performance, while 5% said they strongly approve, followed by 21% who were neutral saying they neither approved nor disapproved. 26% of the respondents polled said they disapprove and 4% said they strongly disapproved. Overall, a total of 46% of the respondents (41% + 5%) approve the performance of the president; while a total of 30% (26% +4%) disapprove his performance. A three month average of the Jonathan’s job approval rating stands at 50% (5 in 10 Nigerians approve of his job performance as the President)
The graph below presents a trend analysis of GEJ’s approval ratings across the three months.
When the current figures are compared with the results for February, there is an 8-point decline in Jonathan’s approval rating (from a total of 54% (Feb) to 46% (Mar)). Also, the proportion of Nigerians that disapprove of his performance has increased by 9-points (from a total of 21% in (Feb) to 30% (Mar)). In addition, the percentage of respondents that rated the president’s performance as neutral has decreased by 4-points from 25% to 21%. However a look over the three months indicates that majority of Nigerian approve of the Jonathan’s performance as President. However, it is worthwhile to note that the March 2013 results present a reversal from the slight rising trend observed in February 2013. March 2013 results is not only a decline, it is also the lowest approval rating for the President since January 2013.
The second question sought to gauge the opinions of Nigerians regarding the performance of the entire administration – the ministers at the federal level, and the governors and their respective cabinets at the state levels. Respondents were asked: How would you rate the performance of the current administration in the last month? In response, overall the majority (50%) said the administration has “performed averagely”, followed by 24% who are of the opinion that “they have performed poorly”. In addition, 16% said “they have performed well”, while 6% said “they have performed very poorly”, and 3% said “they have performed very well.
The graph below presents a trend analysis of the administration performance rating’s across the three months.
A three month average of the administration’s performance rating stands at 51% (5 in 10 Nigerians say they have performed averagely)
A comparison with results from February 2013 shows that opinions of Nigerians about the performance of the current administration have slumped over the past month. In March, there was a 7-point increase in the proportion of respondents that think the administration is performing poorly; a total of 30% in March compared to 23% in February. Also, there was a 6-point decline in the number of respondents that think the current administration has performed well from 24% overall in February to 18% in March. The proportion of respondents who were neutral about the current administrations performance dropped slightly from 52% in February to 50% in March.
Finally, the third question sought to establish the perception about the state of power supply in the country. Therefore, respondents were asked: How would you describe power supply in your area where you live in the last 1 month? Current results show that the majority and an equal percentage (25%) both stated that their power supply “has improved a little” and also that it “remains bad”. This is closely followed by 22% who said “there’s no difference at all” and 21% who said “it’s very bad and has gone worse”. Only 7% of the respondents were of the opinion that power supply “has improved very much”.
Looking across the geo-political zones, there are a few differences that are worth noting. The North West has the highest proportion of respondents that think that power supply has improved (36% in total) followed by North Central (34% in total). The South East has the majority of people (33%) that claim there has been no difference at all in their power supply. The North East had the highest proportion of respondents that claim power supply is bad in March (59%) overall and also that it is very bad and has gone worse (35%).
A comparison with results from the poll conducted in February 2013 shows a drastic change in the power supply situation in Nigeria. In March, more people claimed their power supply was bad or had worsened; 46% in March compared to 31% in February. Also, there was an 11 point decline in the proportion of respondents whose power supply had improved slightly or very much; 42% in February and 31% in March. The percentage of respondents who observed no difference in their power supply declined slightly in March by 2%.
The graph below presents a trend analysis of the perception of power supply over the three months.
In conclusion, the results from this current poll has revealed that though majority of Nigerians approve of the job performance of President Goodluck Jonathan in the month of March 2013 his approval rating declined by 8 points over the past 1 month. Also in March, more Nigerians think the current administration is performing poorly or very poorly compared to February. Finally, Nigerians have divergent opinions about their power supply with the majority saying it that it remains bad.
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted on March 25th to 27th 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,014 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%. NOI Polls Limited is Nigeria’s leading opinion polling and research organisation, which works in technical partnership with the Gallup Organisation (USA), to 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 NOI Polls 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 NOI Polls be acknowledged as author whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited or published.
NOI Polls 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 NOI Polls 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 NOI Polls’ current findings and/or thinking.
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