Abuja, Nigeria. April 1st, 2015– Latest governance poll results released by NOIPolls for the month of March 2015 revealed that 5 in 10 Nigerians (52 percent) approved of the performance of the President in March 2015. This indicates a substantial 11-points decline in the President’s approval rating from 63 percent in February 2015. This decline was stimulated by the general decline experienced across almost all geo-political zones except for the North-Central zone where he maintained the same rating from February 2015. The highest decline was surprisingly seen in the South-South zone with 17-points and followed by the South-West zone with 14-points.
Furthermore, an evaluation of the performance of the President in key sectors of his transformation agenda revealed that the President achieved an average (3) rating in Economy, Health, Education, Agriculture & Food security, Transportation and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy, while he had a very poor (1) rating in Job creation, Power and Security.
More findings from the poll revealed that 56 percent (31 + 25 percent) of respondents reported that power supply to their household worsened over the past one month. This is mostly true for the North-East zone with 79 percent. In addition, 25 percent of Nigerians especially from in the North-West (37 percent) saw an improvement in power supply to their households, while 19 percent of Nigerians saw no difference in power supply over the past one month. These are some of the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in the week of March 23rd 2015.
These results represent the third 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? Analysis of responses to this question revealed that 52 percent (20 percent+32 percent) of adult Nigerians approved of the President’s job performance in the past one month. On the other hand, 32 percent disapproved of the President’s job performance, while 16 percent remained neutral as they neither approved nor disapproved.
Further analysis of the President’s performance by age-group revealed that Nigerians within the age of 61+ represent the highest percentage that approved the President’s job performance with 68 percent, followed by the age-group of 22-29 with 57 percent, while the age-group of 18-21 with 40 percent represent the highest percentage of Nigerians who disapproved of his job performance over the past one month.
From the geopolitical zones viewpoint, the South-East zone (82 percent) accounted for the highest proportion of respondents who approved of the President’s performance, while the North-East zone (56 percent) accounted for the highest percentage of respondents who disapproved of the President’s performance in March 2015.
Trend analysis by geo-political zones revealed that the President’s approval rating declined almost across all geo-political zones from February 2015, except for the North-Central zone where he maintained the same rating. The highest decline was surprisingly seen in the South-South zone with 17-points and followed by the South-West zone with 14-points.
Further trend analysis of the President’s approval rating shows a significant 11-points decline in March 2015. Despite the decline, this rating represents a 6-points increase when compared to March 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 Jonathan 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. The outcome revealed that the President scored an average (3) rating in Economy, Health, Education, Agriculture & Food security, Transportation and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy, while he had a very poor (1) rating in Job creation, Power and Security.
Comparing current results with February 2015 revealed that the President’s performance rating on Economy, Health, Education, Transportation and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy maintained an average ranking of 3. He maintained a poor rating in Job Creation, Power and Security, while Agriculture & Food Security experienced a 1-point decline.
Finally, to evaluate 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 shows that 56 percent (31 + 25 percent) of surveyed respondents reported that power supply to their household worsened over the past one month. This is mostly true for the North-East zone with 79 percent.
In addition, 25 percent of Nigerians especially from in the North-West (37 percent) saw an improvement in power supply to their households, while 19 percent of Nigerians saw no difference in power supply over the past one month.
Monthly trend evaluation revealed a further decline of 7-points in power supply by March 2015. This result also represents a 7-point decline from March 2014. In the 27-months trend of power supply improvement, the month of March marked a significant trend of poor power supply in 2013, 2014 and 2015; with a record of power improvement below average.
In conclusion, the governance poll result for March 2015 revealed that 52 percent of Nigerians approved the President’s job performance, while 32 percent disapproved and 16 percent remained neutral as they neither approved nor disapproved. The President also achieved an average (3) rating in his performance in Economy, Health, Education, Agriculture & Food security, Transportation and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy, while he had a very poor (1) rating in Job creation, Power and Security. Finally, 25 percent of the respondents in March 2015 reported that power supply to their households improved over the past one month, 19 percent reported there has been no difference, while 56 percent reported that it has remained bad or gone worse.
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted in the week of March 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 percent confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise – within a range of plus or minus 3 percent. NOIPolls Limited, No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa, works in technical partnership with the Gallup Organisation (USA). 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
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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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