Abuja, Nigeria. February 12th, 2015– Latest governance poll results released by NOIPolls for the month of January 2015 haverevealed that the approval rating of the President in January 2015 remained constant at 55% from December 2014; although when compared with January 2014, this rating represents a 6-points decline. In addition, 31% of Nigerians disapproved of his performance with the larger proportion of respondents in this category representing the North-East zone (59%) while 14% in total neither approved nor disapproved of his performance as they remained neutral. Furthermore, the President achieved an average (3) rating in terms of his performance in Economy, Education, Agriculture & Food Security, Transportation and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy whereas; he performed very poorly in Job Creation, Power, Health and Security. While the President generally maintained an ‘average’ to ‘good’ rating in Health throughout 2014, he received a poor rating in health in January 2015. This could have been stimulated by the accrued negative effect of the industrial action embarked upon by members of the Joint Health Sectors Unions (JOHESU) on the Nigerian health sector.
Further findings revealed that a larger proportion of Nigerian households (43%) particularly in the South-East regionsaw an improvement in power supply in January 2015. This figure reveals a 4-points increase in this category of households in January 2015 from December 2014, thus suggesting slight improvement in the state of power supply in Nigeria over the past month. In addition, 37% of Nigerian householdsreported a worsened state of power supply, while 20% saw no difference at allin power supply over the past one month. These are some of the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in the week of January 23rd 2014.
These results represent the first in the 2015 monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regardingthe approval rating of the President, the performance of the President on key elements of his transformation agenda, and thestate of power supply in the country.
Respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions. The first sought to assess the opinion of Nigerians on the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan over the past 1 month. Respondents were asked: Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of President Jonathan in the past 1 month?Findings revealed that 55% (24%+31%) of adult Nigerians approved of the president President’s job performance over the past one month. On the other hand, 31% (20%+11%) disapproved of the president’s job performance, whereas, 14% neither approved nor disapproved of his performance as they remained neutral.
Further analysis of President’s performance by geo-political zones revealed that the South-East (84%) and South-South (81%) zones accounted for the largest fraction of respondents who approve of the President’s job performance. Contrarily, the North-East (59%) and North-West (44%) zones have the largest proportion of respondents who disapproved of the president’s job performance. In addition, more male (38%) than female (25%) respondents approved of the president’s performance in January 2015.
Trend analysis by geo-political zones revealed that the President’s approval rating declined significantly in the North-Central and South-West zones by 8-points and 10-points respectively in January 2015 from December 2014.
Further trend analysis of the President’s approval rating from January 2014 to January 2015 revealed that the President’s approval rating remained constant at 55% in January 2015 from December 2014. Also this rating represents a 6-points decline when compared to January 2014.
To gauge the performance of the president on pertinent elements of his transformation agenda, respondents were asked: On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is very poor and 5 is excellent, how would you rate the performance of the President in the following areas? (1) Job Creation (2) Power (3) Economy (4) Health (5) Education (6) Agriculture & Food Security (7) Transportation (8) Foreign Policy & Diplomacy and (9) Security. Overall, the President achieved an average (3) rating in terms of his performance in Economy, Education, Agriculture & Food Security, Transportation and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy, whereas, he performed very poorly in Job Creation, Power, Health and Security. His poor rating in health in January 2015 could be attributed to the accrued negative effect of the industrial action embarked upon by members of the Joint Health Sectors Unions (JOHESU) on the Nigerian health sector.
Trend evaluation revealed that the President’s performance rating on Economy, Education, Transportation, Agriculture & Food Security and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy maintained an average ranking (3) from previous months in 2014. Power and Security also maintained a poor rating from previous months in 2014; however, while the President generally maintained an ‘average’ to ‘good’ rating in Health all through 2014, he was rated poorly in Health in January 2015. The reason being as previously stated could potentially be from the amassed industrial action by members of the Joint Health Sectors Unions (JOHESU) on the Nigerian health sector in 2014.
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? Findings revealed that a greater proportion of Nigerian households (43%) saw an improvement in power supply, 37% reported a worsened state of power supply, while 20% saw no difference at allin power supply over the past one month.
Analysis by geo-political zone indicates that the South-East zone (53%) accounted for the highest proportion of respondents who saw an improvement in power supply to their households in January 2015, whereas, the South-South zone (45%) has the largest proportion of Nigerians who experienced a worsened state of power supply. Most respondents who saw no difference in power supply were mainly from the North-West zone (26%).
Trend evaluation reveals a 4-points increase in power supply in January 2015 from December 2014, thereby suggesting a slight improvement in the state of power supply in Nigeria over the past month. Furthermore the current figure on power improvement is almost at par with the results obtained in January 2014, although, there was a slight 1-point decline from January 2014.
In conclusion, 55% of the Nigerians surveyed approved of the president’s job performance in January 2015. On the other hand, 31% disapproved of his performance while 14% neither approved nor disapproved of his performance as they remained neutral. on this issue, Furthermore, the President achieved an average (3) rating in terms of his performance in Economy, Education, Agriculture & Food Security, Transportation and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy whereas; he performed very poorly in Job Creation, Power, Health and Security. Finally, 43% of Nigerian households reported an improvement in power supply, 37% reported a worsened state of power supply, while 20% reported no difference at allin power supply in January 2015.
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted in the week of January 23rd 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, No 1 for country specific polling services in West Africa 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 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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