top of page

Search Results

Search this site

667 results found with an empty search

  • President Jonathan’s Performance Rating Declines by 5 points to 50% in November

    Abuja, Nigeria. December 3rd, 2013 – Governance poll results released by NOIPolls Limited for the month of November has revealed that 50% of the Nigerian adult population (43.7m) approve of President Goodluck Jonathan’s performance in the past one month. This represents a 5-point decline in the proportion of Nigerians that approved of the President’s performance from October (55%) to November (50%).More findings reveals that the majority (45%) are of the opinion that the current administration (the Executive Cabinet; Ministers and State Governors) performed averagely and the proportion that gave a positive rating of the current administration experienced a 3-Points decline from October (33%).Furthermore, the power situation has worsened considerably with a 13-point decline in the proportion of Nigerians that experienced improvement from October (39%) to November (26%); this represents the lowest power rating in eleven months. These were the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in the week of November 25th 2013. The results presented are the eleventh in the monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding three crucial elements – the approval rating of the president, the performance of the current administration, and the situation of power supply in the country. Respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions. The first question sought to gauge the perceptions of Nigerians on the job performance of the President Goodluck Jonathan. Respondents to the poll were asked: Do you approve of President Jonathan’s performance in the past 1 month? Reactions to this question revealed that half of adult Nigerians (50%) approve of President Jonathan’s performance in the past one month while 22% disapprove of his performance. In addition, 28% were indifferent about his performance as they neither approve nor disapprove of his performance. Analysing the performance rating across geo-political zone revealed that the South-East zone (74%) accounts for the largest proportion of respondents that approve of the President’s performance while the North-Westand the South-South zones with 26% each, account for the largest proportion of respondents that disapprove of the President’s performance in the month of November. Monthly trend analysis of the President’s approval rating revealed a 5-point decline in the proportion that approved of the President’s performance from October (55%) to November (50%). Furthermore, the trend also shows that the president received higher ratings in the second half of the year than in the first half, with the best two ratings up to date in August (57%) and October (55%). The second question aimed to assess the performance of the current administration. Respondents were asked:How would you rate the performance of this current administration in the past 1 month? Findings from this question revealed that majority (45%) were of the opinion that the present administration performed averagely. While 30% (28%+2%) say they performed well, 25% (20%+5%) affirm they performed poorly. Analysis based on geo-political zones reveals that the North-West (51%) has the largest proportion of respondents that gave the current administration an average performance rating. In addition, the South-East zone 43% (39%+4%) accounts for the largest proportion of respondents that gave the current administration a positive rating while the South-South zone 31% (26%+4%) had the largest proportion of respondents that gave a negative rating. Again, a monthly trend of the current administration’s performance revealed a 3-point decline in the proportion of Nigerians that approve of the performance of the current administration from October (33%). In addition, the trend also reveals that, the current administration also received better ratings in the second half of the year than in the first half with the best two ratings in August (35%) and October (33%). This follows the same trend as the President’s approval ratings. Finally, the third question sought to gauge the power situation in Nigeria within the past month, respondents were asked: How would you describe power in your area in the past 1 month? Analysis show that majority of the respondents (33%) say the power situation in Nigeria over the past one month “remains bad”, this is followed by 25% who affirm “there is no difference at all” and 23% who confirmed that it “has improved a little”. In addition, 16% claim “it’s very bad and has gone worse”, 3% affirmed “it has improved very much”. A view across the geo-political zones revealed that the North-East (46%) zone accounts for the largest proportion of respondents that say the power situation in Nigeria over the past one month “remains bad”, while the South-South zone (34%) accounts for the largest proportion of respondents that experienced little improvement in the power situation over the past one month. Looking at the 11 month trend of the power situation in Nigeria, the proportion of Nigerians that experienced improvement in their power supply declined considerably by 13-points from October (39%) to November. This is the worst rating of power over the past eleven months of 2013 and indicates a general worsened situation in power supply across Nigeria in spite of the recent privatisation drive. In conclusion, findings from this current poll have revealed that 50% of adult Nigerians approve of President Goodluck Jonathan’s performance in the past one month. This current rating represents a 5-point decline in the proportion of Nigerians that approved of the President’s performance from October (55%) to November (50%).More findings showed that majority (45%) are of the opinion that the present administration performed averagely and the proportion that gave a positive rating of the current administration declined by 3-Points from October (33%) to November (30%). In addition, power supply to households has worsened over the past two months with a considerable 13-points decline in the proportion of Nigerians that experienced improvement from October (39%) to November (26%). Furthermore, the lowest power rating in eleven months was recorded in November, which heralded the formal handover of power assets to the investors. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted on November 25th to 27th2013. 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 theNo.1 for country specific polling services in West Africa, 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 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • Electricity and Oil & Gas Facilities, Most Vandalised Public Properties in Nigeria

    Abuja, Nigeria. November 19th, 2013 – Latest weekly poll results released by NOIPolls Limited has indicated a general level of apathy towards public property in Nigeria. The poll conducted on the issue of public property Vandalism in Nigeria revealed that about 6 in 10 Nigerians (61%) believe that Nigerians generally value public property poorly. Also, the majority of respondents (74%) agree that there is a high incidence of public property vandalism in Nigeria; while suggesting that the most vandalised public properties are: electricity installation (57%); oil/gas (51%) facilities; and public buildings (32%). Furthermore, suggestions provided to tackle the issue of vandalism include: provision of employment (58%); public enlightenment (15%); and adequate security (13%). These were the key findings from the Public Property Vandalism Poll conducted in the week of November 11th 2013. Brief Introduction Vandalism of Public/Government property in Nigeria has had a negative impact on the economy and society as a whole, with several sectors suffering great setbacks. For instance, in the oil sector, experts claim that Nigeria loses billions of dollars annually to the vandalism of petroleum products pipelines. Estimates from a recent audit report by NEITI revealed that Nigeria and oil companies lost a total of N1.737trillion ($10,992,776,474) in three years from 2009 to 2011; with cumulative losses due to pipeline vandalism and crude oil thefts at N134,126,921,724 ($894,179,478). The report also confirmed that NNPC spent over $600 million to fortify security of oil and gas facilities[1]. Similarly, the power sector has also suffered its fair share from the vandalisation of electricity facilities, which have continued to impact negatively on power distribution in the country. Experts have warned that continued vandalisation of power facilities across the country would jeopardise the efforts of the 10 new distribution companies at improving power supply in Nigeria. Recently, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo confirmed at a two-day Stakeholders Forum on the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure, that Nigeria is losing over 35% of her power generation capacity to the activities of vandals. He also stated that “The Power sector is hit in the most devastating manner and the effect of vandalism cannot be overemphasised as industries, small and medium scale businesses are being starved of power as a result of the activities of vandals”. The effect of vandalism has stimulated the outcry for tougher laws to be enforced to protect public property.[2] In view of this background, NOIPolls conducted its latest poll on public property vandalism in Nigeria to explore the views of Nigerians regarding how public/government public properties are valued and the level of vandalism present, as well as possible causes and remedies to minimise incidence of vandalism. Respondents to the nation-wide poll were asked five specific questions. The First question sought the views of Nigerians on how well public/government properties are valued by Nigerians. Respondents were asked: In your opinion, how well do Nigerians value public/government property? From the results, the overall majority (61%: 32%+29%) were of the opinion that public/government properties are valued poorly in Nigeria. Conversely, 26% (13%+13%) were of the opinion that they are valued well; while 13% said they are valued adequately by Nigerians. Analysis across geo-political zones revealed that the South-East zone (69%: 41%+28%) and the South-West zone (67%: 24%+43%) had the highest proportion of Nigerians that claim Nigerians value public/government properties poorly. Furthermore, the North-East zone (52%: 35%+17%) had the highest proportion of respondents that said public/government are valued well by Nigerians. [1] www.vanguardngr.com [2] www.punchng.com The second question sought to establish the incidence of vandalism on public/government property in Nigeria. Respondents were asked: To what extent do you agree or disagree that there is a high incidence of public property vandalism in Nigeria? Overall, the majority of Nigerians (74%: 33%+41%) affirm that Nigeria generally has a high incidence of public property vandalism. This finding directly relates to the response from the previous question indicating that Nigerians place poor value on public property. Comparatively, 14% (13%+1%) disagree that there is a high incidence of public property; while 12% were neutral. Analysis based on geo-political zone shows that the South-South zone (70%: 49%+31%) accounts for the highest proportion of respondents that affirmed a high incidence of public property vandalism, while the highest number of Nigerians who disagree to the assertion were from the North-Central zone (23%: 22%+1%). Subsequently, in order to determine the perception of Nigerians regarding the most vandalised public properties, respondents were asked:  In your opinion which public/government properties are most vandalised?Interestingly, the majority (57%) revealed that the most vandalised public/government properties in Nigeria are electricity facilities; closely followed by Oil & Gas facilities (51%). Other public properties mostly vandalised include: public buildings (32%), roads (18%), water facilities (11%), telecoms installations (5%), government vehicles (2%) and public schools (1%). This finding corroborates the assertion by the Honourable Minister of power that “The Power sector is hit in the most devastating manner and the effect of vandalism cannot be overemphasized” In addition, gauging the opinions across geo-political zones indicated that the North-East zone (89%) had the highest number of Nigerians that indicated electricity facilities as the most vandalised. Also, the North-West (66%) and South-South (61%) zones accounts for the highest proportion of Nigerians that indicated oil/gas facilities and most of the Nigerians that suggested public buildings were from the North-East zone (47%). Furthermore, with the aim for identifying the root causes of vandalism in Nigeria, respondents were asked: In your opinion what are the main causes of public property vandalism in Nigeria. From the results, Unemployment (33%) was identified as the main cause of public/government property vandalism. This was followed by “poverty” (22%), “poor enforcement of law” (15%) and “illiteracy/lack of awareness (11%). Also,8% of the respondents blamed “poor maintenance culture” while 11% indicated “others”. Finally, in order to explore the views of Nigerians on possible ways for reducing the incidence of vandalism, respondents were asked: What suggestions do you have for reducing the incidence of vandalism in Nigeria? Overall, the majority (58%) suggested that in order to reduce vandalism Government should “provide employment”. This is not unexpected, given that unemployment has been identified as the main root cause of vandalism. Other suggestions made by Nigerians include “public reorientation/enlightenment/awareness” indicated by 15%; “provision of adequate security” (13%); “enforcement of laws” (11%), and “government should inculcate good maintenance culture” (7%). From the geo-political standpoint, the South-South zone (69%) had more respondents that suggested the provision of employment as a way of reducing vandalism in Nigeria and the South-West zone (23%) had more people who say there should be “public reorientation/enlightenment/awareness” on the ill effects on vandalism to the nation. In conclusion, this current poll has revealed that about 6 in 10 Nigerians (61%) are of the opinion that public properties are valued poorly in Nigeria. Furthermore, the majority (74%) agree that there is a high incidence of public property vandalism; while electricity facilities (57%) and oil/gas installations (51%) were identified as the most vandalised public properties in Nigeria. In addition, the poll revealed that the major causes of public/government property vandalism are “Unemployment” (33%); “poverty” (22%); and “poor enforcement of laws” (15%). Nigerians have further suggested that in order to minimize the incidence of vandalism government should strengthen its efforts at providing employment opportunities (58%), as well as providing public enlightenment (15%) and adequate security (13%). Finally, in a bid to eradicate / drastically minimise the incidence of vandalism in Nigeria, we suggest that while programmes, projects and interventions are being designed to address unemployment; more media enlightenment campaigns need to be undertaken by the Nigeria Orientation Agency (NOA) in order to provide enlighten the public on the negative effects of vandalism and its socio-economic implications on the country. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted on November 11th to 13th 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,007 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, No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa, 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 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • President’s Job Approval Rating Bounces Back by 6-points to 55% in October 2013

    Abuja, Nigeria. November 5, 2013 – Latest monthly governance poll result released by NOIPolls Limitedhas revealed that about 55% of Nigerians approve of the job performance of President Goodluck Jonathan in the month of October 2013. This current rating depicts a 6-points increase in the President’s job approval rating from September (49%) to October (55%) 2013; and marks the 2nd highest rating scored since January 2013. In addition, the poll revealed that 40% of Nigerians rated the performance of the current administration as average. However, there was a 2-point decline in the proportion of Nigerians (39%) that had experienced some improvements in their power supply in the month of October (down from September’s 41%). These were the key findings from the Governance Snap Pollconducted in the week of October 28th 2013. The results presented are the tenth in the monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding three crucial elements – the approval rating of the president, the performance of the current administration, and the situation of power supply in the country. Respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions. The first question sought to gauge the perceptions of Nigerians on the job performance of the President Goodluck Jonathan. Respondents to the poll were asked: Do you approve of President Jonathan’s performance in the past 1 month? An analysis of the responses to this question revealed that majority (55%: 47%+8%) of Nigerians approve of the President’s performance in the month of October, where 47% approve and 8% strongly approve his performance. Comparatively, 21% (17%+4%) of Nigerians disapprove of the President’s job performance, with 17% disapproving and 4% strongly disapproving his performance. In addition 24% remained neutral to rating his performance as they neither approve nor disapprove. This current score of 55% depicts a 6-points increase in the job approval rating of the President, and a 3-points decline in the disapproval of the President’s performance from September to October (approval: 49%;disapproval: 24%) to October (approval: 55%; disapproval: 21%). A key observation is the percentage of Nigerians who remain neutral (24%) to the President’s performance. This figure moved from 27% (September) to 24% (October) showing a shift of 3% of this group towards the positive approval rating. This is a key indicator that shows that the group neutrals can sway the approval ratings forward or backward. An appraisal of the President’s performance according to geo-political zones revealed that the highest approval rating of the President’s performance came from Nigerians in the South-East zone (78%: 60%+18%),followed by the North-Central zone (70%: 53%+17%). Comparatively, the North-West (36%:31%+5%) up from 21% and the South West with 34% (25%+9%) down from 42% has the highest proportion of respondents that disapprove of the President’s performance in the month of October. In comparing the proportion of respondents who are neutral according to geo-political zones, the South West zone with 32% up from 27% has the highest number of neutrals followed by the North East zone (28%) down from 31%. A broader view of the President’s rating in ten months revealed an average approval rating of 49%.Furthermore, when the figures obtained in ten months are compared with the average (49%), it can be seen that the President performed above average in five months (Jan 50%, Feb 54%, July 53%, Aug 57% and Oct 55%) with August (57%) being his best rating and October (55%) his 2nd best rating; while his approval rating was below average in four months (Mar 46%, Apr 42%, May 44%, and Jun 44%) with April (42%) being his lowest. An evaluation of President’s rating in ten months indicated an average disapproval rating of 27%.Moreover, when the figures obtained in ten months are compared with the average (27%), it can be seen that the President performed above average in four months (Jan 30%, Mar 33%, Apr 33%, and Sept 27%) with March and April (33%) respectivelybeing his highest in disapproval rating; while his rating was below the average in six months (Feb 21%, May 25%, June 26%, Jul 25%, Aug 24% and Oct 21%) with February and October (21%) respectivelybeing his lowest in disapproval ratings. Further assessment of the President’s rating in ten months shows an average neutral rating of 23%. A comparison of the average (23%) with the figures obtained in ten months showed that the President’s job approval received neutral ratings above the average in six months (Feb 25%, May 31%, Jun 30%, Aug 24%, Sept 27% and Oct 24%) with May (31%) being his highest neutral rating and June (30%) his 2nd highest rating; while his neutral rating was below the average in four months (Jan 20%, Mar 21%, Apr 21%, and Jul 22%) with January (20%) being his lowest for neutrals. Similarly, the second question sought to gauge the performance of the current administration. Respondents were asked: How would you rate the performance of this current administration in the past 1 month? The result revealed that majority (40%) of the respondents perceived the performance of the current administration as average. In addition, while 33% (31%+2%) were of the opinion that they performed well, 27%(23%+4%) suggested they performed poorly. This figure depicts a significant 10-points increase in the proportion of respondents who gave a positive rating to the administration’s performance from September (23%) to October (33%) Analysing the performance of the current administration from the standpoint of the geo-political zones reveal that the South-South zone (52%) had the highest proportion of respondents that rated the performance of the current administration as average. Also majority of the respondents who gave a positive rating were from theNorth-Central zone (48%: 46%+2%) and the North-East zone (45%). Again, an assessment of the performance of the current administration in ten months shows an average positive approval rating of 24%. A comparison of the average (24%) with the figures obtained in ten months showed that the current administration received positive ratings above average  in three months (Jul 28%, Aug 35% and Oct 33%) and performed below their 10 months average in six months (Jan 22%,  Mar 18%,  Apr 16%, May 21%, Jun 23% and Sept 23%). Finally, the third question to gauge the situation of power supply in the country within the past month, asked respondents: How would you describe power in your area in the past 1 month? The findings revealed majority of respondents (36%) were of the opinion that the power situation in Nigeria over the past one month “has improved a little”, this is followed by 30% who claimed “it remains bad” and 21% who confirmed that “there is no difference at all”. In addition, while 10% stated that “it’s very bad and has gone worse”, 3% affirmed that “it has improved very much”. In essence about 39% of respondents stated that they experienced slight improvements (down by 2-points from 41% in September 2013). Analysis based on the geo-political zones revealed that the South-East (50%: 44%+6%), North-Central (49%: 45%+4%) and South-South (48%: 41%+7%) zones had the highest proportion of Nigerians who experienced slight improvement in the situation of power in the past one month. In addition, the North-East (56%: 48%+8%) and the North-West (51%: 38%+13%) accounted for the highest proportion of respondents who had negative experiences. Furthermore, a look at the power situation in Nigeria over the last ten months revealed that an average of 37% of Nigerians experienced slight improvements in power supply. As such, positive ratings above average were experienced in the months of Jan (47%), Feb (44%), Sept (41%) and Oct (39%); while ratings below average were experienced in Mar (31%), Apr (31%), May (35%), Jun (32%), Aug (36%). In conclusion, findings from this current poll have revealed a bounce back in the job approval rating of the President, with 55% of Nigerians positively affirming his performance in the last one month. This figure depicts a6-points increase in the approval rating of the President from September (49%) to October (56%). Furthermore a comparison of the average rating over the last ten months (49%) indicatedthat the President performed above average in five months (Jan 50%, Feb 54%, July 53%, Aug 57% and Oct 55%). Finally the poll revealed that majority of the respondents (40%) rate the performance of the current administration as average; while power supply worsened by  2-points from September (41%) to October (39%). In conclusion, while current findings do not necessarily show a clear link between the President’s positive approval rating and worsening power supply to households; we can only suggest that some other factors may be responsible for influencing the rating, including the successful October handover of share certificates to GENCOs and DISCOs, in anticipation of future improvements in power supply. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted on October 28th to 30th 2013. 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, No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa, 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 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • Power Supply to Households Improve Slightly in Q3 2013

    Abuja, Nigeria. October 22, 2013 – Latest power sector poll results released by NOIPolls Limited for the 3rd Quarter of 2013 has revealed that more Nigerians experienced slight improvements in their power supply in Q3 (38%) compared to Q2 2013 (33%). Similarly, the proportion of Nigerians that experienced decline in their power supply also reduced by 5-points in Q3 to 42% (down from 47% in Q2). Also, despite slight improvements in power supply recorded over the quarter, about 78% of Nigerians still made use of alternative sources to augment their power supply; marking a 3-point decline from Q2 (81%). These were the key findings from the Power Sector Pollsconducted in the 3rd Quarter of 2013. Power supply in Nigeria has been known to be of great concern for several decades. Monopoly in the supply of electricity has lingered as the major contributing factor to the power situation in Nigeria. In 2005, a new era for the power sector started with the decision of the government to privatise the power sector through the approval of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA). This involved a process of unbundling of government’s power plants under the Nigerian Electricity Power Authority (NEPA) into business units and regulated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC). This was in a bid to privatise, and allow public-private investments into the sector. With the aim of monitoring the progress made so far regarding the power sector reform. NOIPolls introduced the Power Sector Polls in April 2013 to explore the perception of Nigerians towards the power sector reform, expenditure on alternative sources of power and support for the on-going reform process. The results for Q3 2013 are presented here, following Q2 results released in June 2013. Key Findings In order to highlight the trends in power supply over Q3 2013, respondents were asked the following question: How would you describe power in your area in the past 1 month? An evaluation of poll results over the three month period showed there have been no dramatic changes in power supply. There was a 3-point increase between July and September in the proportion of respondents that claim power supply has improved a little and a 5-point drop in the proportion that claim power supply is very bad and has gone worse. Exploring the situation of light across the three months showed that in September there was a balance in the proportion of Nigerians with positive and negative experiences with power supply since an equal percentage (41% each) indicated an improvement and a deterioration of their power supply in that month. Further analysis reveals slight improvement in the power supply to households in Q3 (38%) compared to Q2 (33%) 2013. On the one hand, the proportion of Nigerians that experienced improvements in their power supply increased by 5-points to 38% (7% + 37%), compared to 33% (4% + 29%) in Q2. On the other hand, the proportion of Nigerians that experienced decline in their power supply also reduced by 5-points in Q3 to 42% (down from 47% in Q2); while the proportion that claimed there was no difference remained the same at 20% over the two quarters. With the objective of gauging the proportion of Nigerians that use alternative sources of power supply, respondents were asked: Do you use any alternate source of electricity supply such as generators or inverters? Averages over the three months revealed that the overall majority of Nigerians (78%) make use of alternative sources of electricity such as generators to augment their supply of electricity; while 22% rely solely on power supply. This finding further lends credence to a recent claim made by the HM Customs and Excise Statistics, which stated that Nigeria has been the leading importer of generators over a 5 year period from 2007 to 2012. The results show that there has been a continuous increase in the proportion of Nigerians that use alternative sources of electricity from July to September with a total of 14-points increase within Q3 2013. Further analysis revealed that in comparison to Q2, there was a 3-point decline (from 81% in Q2 to 78% in Q3) in the proportion of Nigerians that make use of alternative sources of power supply. Additionally, respondents that use alternative power sources were asked: How would you describe the amount you currently spend on alternative power compared to a year ago? The three month average reveals that more Nigerians (41%) who use alternative sources of power supply experienced a drastic increase in their spending compared to a year ago. In addition, 21% experienced slight increase, 18% were of the opinion that their spending remained the same compared to a year ago, 15% said it decreased slightly and 5% affirmed their spending on alternative power sources decreased drastically. Though the proportion of Nigerians that use alternative sources to generate power increased from July to September, It is pertinent to note that, the proportion of Nigerians that experienced a drastic increase in their spending on the alternative sources of power such as generators decreased by 12-points from August (52%) to September (40%). Similarly, comparing the averages obtained from Q2 and Q3 revealed a 7-point decline in the proportion of respondents that experienced increase in their spendings on alternative sources of electricity from Q2 (69%: 46% + 23%) and Q3 (62%: 41% + 21%). On the other hand, there was a 1-point increase in the proportion of those who has experienced decrease in the amounts spent on alternative power supply in Q3 (20%: 15% + 5%) compared to Q2 (19%: 16% + 3%). The next question sought to measure the level of awareness of Nigerians on the on-going power sector reforms by the federal government. Respondents were asked: Are you aware that the Federal Government is making efforts to reform the power sector? Overall, an average of 67% of Nigerians said they are aware of the power sector reforms over the three months in the third quarter. The highest level of awareness was recorded in September (73%), while the month of August (62%) recorded the lowest level of awareness. Relatively about one-third of Nigerians (33%) indicated no awareness of the on-going power sector privatisation process. Similarly, the result for Q3 shows no marked difference between that of Q2, as there was only a 1-point decline (from 68% in Q2 to 67% in Q3) in the proportion of respondents that are aware of the privatisation process. Finally in the bid to explore the perceptions of Nigerians on the on-going power sector reforms, respondents were asked: How do you feel about these on-going power reforms? Reactions to this question revealed that on the average over Q3, the majority of Nigerians(62%: 16% + 46%) are hopeful about the privatisation of the power sector, 20% remained neutral, while, 18% showed dissatisfaction with the on-going power sector reforms. Similarly, the proportion of Nigerians that were generally hopeful about the power sector reform remained the same (62% each) between the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2013. However, it is worth noting that the proportion of respondents that were “very hopeful” increased by 7-points from Q2 (9%) to Q3 (16%); indicating more buy-in and support for the on-going power sector reform and privatisation process. Conclusion In conclusion, the findings from the 3rd Quarter Power Sector Polls have revealed that more Nigerians (38%) affirmed that their power supply improved slightly over the period. Also, the proportion of Nigerians that experienced decline in their power supply reduced from Q3 (42%) to Q2 (47%). The results further revealed that about 78% of Nigerians still made use of alternative sources to augment their power supply; while majority of Nigerians (67%) are quite hopeful that the on-going power sector reform and privatisation process would yield some positive fruits. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted between July and September 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample of over 3,000 phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country. 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 the No.1 for country specific polling services in West Africa, 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 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 judgement 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • Q3 2013 Petroleum Pump Price Poll Report

    Abuja, Nigeria. October 14th, 2013 – The Third Quarter (Q3) results for the Petrol Pump Price Monitoring Polls conducted by NOIPolls Limited reveals there was a drastic 30 point decline in the proportion of Nigerians that purchase petrol above the official pump price of N97 (52% in Q2 and 22% in Q3). The poll further indicates that the majority of Nigerians in Q3 (40%) purchase petrol for both their cars and generators versus Q2 where the majority (44%) purchased for their generators . These form part of the findings of the polls for Quarter 3, 2013. In January 2012, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatroy Agency (PPPRA) along with government announced an increase in the price of petrol from N65 to N141 as a result of the removal of subsidy for the reason that over a trillion naira was spent in 2011 on subsidy. After days of protest by Nigerians led by organised labour and civil societies who were unhappy about the perceived hardship this action would cause Nigerians and the lack of notice by the government to carry out such plans, the government as a stop-gap measure partially removed subsidy, thereby bringing the official pump price of petrol to N97. Subsidy has been defined as money given by the state or public body to keep down cost of commodities. Some people see it as a form of protectionism or trade barrier because domestic goods are made affordable artificially. Within the Nigerian petroleum pricing context, subsidy would then mean selling petrol below the cost of production or importation. In the course of and following the 2012 subsidy protest and partial removal of subsidy by government, many debates arose with erroneous and innaccurate information passed across as the truth, indicating a need for a dependable measure of public opinion on issues surrounding public policies. This led NOI Polls in January 2013 to initiate the Petrol Pump Price Monitoring Poll Project. This result release is the third quarterly release in the series. (see Q1 and Q2 results here) The purpose of the poll is to monitor and analyse the current price and uses of petrol in Nigeria, as well as to measure the perception of Nigerians towards the petrol price differences at various points of sale. Key Findings Over 4,500 respondents have been interviewed across nine months (January-September) and the respondents are asked the same ten questions for each monthly poll, but only five of these will be reveiwed in this report. For full details of the findings please e-mail: editor@noi-polls.com. In order to determine the main petrol distributors that Nigerians patronize and analyze the purchase trends, respondents to the poll were asked: Where do you mainly buy petrol from? The responses indicate that in the 3rd quarter of 2013, 70% of Nigerians bought petrol from major marketer filling stations. This is followed by 26% of Nigerians who bought from independent marketer filling stations and 5% who bought from hawkers. Analysis of the results by geo-political zones shows that the South-West has the highest percentage of people(80%) purchasing petrol from major marketer filling stations. The South-East zone has the highest percentage purchasing from independent marketer filling stations with 45%, while the North-East zone has the highest percentage of people purchasing from the hawkers with 15%. Figure 1 illustrates these findings. Figure 1: Main point of petrol purchase (Q3, 2013) When Q3 results are compared with Q2, current results show a sharp 15% increase in the proportion of people that mainly buy from major marketer filling stations when compared to Q2 results and a corresponding 12%decrease in the proportion that buy from Independents. Averages across the 9 month period indicate the following for 2013: 62% of Nigerians purchase petrol from major marketer filling stations, 31% purchase from independents while an average of 7% purchase from hawkers. Figure 2: Main point of petrol purchase (Q1, Q2 &Q3 2013) In order to estimate the average cost of petrol in Nigeria as well as measure the percentage of Nigerians who buy above the official pump price, the respondents to the poll were asked: How much do you normally buy petrol? Results show that the 78% of Nigerians purchased petrol at the official price of N97 in Q3. This shows a drastic improvement in the availability of petrol compared to Q1 and Q2. Further analysis by geo-political zones shows that the South-West, North-Central and South-South zones have the highest amount of respondents who bought petrol at N97 with 84% and 82% for both of the other zones respectively. Figure 3: Price per litre of petrol (Q3, 2013) Furthermore, the price paid per litre of petrol was cross-tabulated by point of purchase; this is presented as Figure 4 below. Results show that the majority of major marketer filling stations (87%) sell at the official price ofN97. Meanwhile, the majority of Independent marketer filling stations (26%) also sell at the official pump price and the majority of petrol hawkers (53%) sell above N130. Figure 4: Price per litre of petrol by point of purchase (Q3, 2013) When Q3 results are compared with Q1 and Q2; there was a drastic 30 point increase in the proportion of respondents that purchase petrol at the official pump price and corresponding decline in the proportion that purchase above the official pump prices. Figure 5: Price per litre of petrol (Q1, Q2 &Q3 2013) In order to acertain the main uses of petrol in Nigeria, the respondents to the poll were asked: What do you normally use petrol for? Similar to the Q2 survey, the result for Q3 reveals that on an average, the majority (40%) use petrol for both their car and generator. This is followed by the use of petrol for cars with 21% and Generator with 20%. Figure 6: Uses of Petrol (quarter 1, 2013) When comparing quarterly results, Q3 was the peak when the majority bought petrol for both their cars and generators while Q2 was the peak of when the majority bought for their generators only. Averages across the nine month period indicate the following averages in 2013: 29% of Nigerians use petrol both for their cars and generators, 25% use petrol for only their cars while 33% (the majority) use petrol for their generators only. Figure 7: Use of petrol (Q1, Q2 & Q3 2013) In order to measure the perception of Nigerians towards the causes of price differences of petrol at the points of sale, the respondents to the poll were asked: What do you think is responsible for the difference in the pump price of petrol across filling stations? The results show that majority (48%) of the respondents blamed the disparity in petrol price on the lack of monitoring of the petrol stations by governments. Furthermore, 27% of the respondents were of the opinion that the petrol stations are hoarding petrol and exploiting the public, while 25% felt that it is because the cost of importing petrol is not the same for all marketers. Analysis by geo-political zones shows that the South-West and South-East zones (51% and 50% respectively) have the highest proportion of respondents who blamed the government for not monitoring the filling stations, while the North-Central zone (39%) accounts for the highest proportion of respondents that feel the petrol stations are exploiting people. The North-East has the highest proportion of respondents (39%) that blame the price disparity on the varying cost of importation of petrol. Figure 8: Responsibility for price disparity (Q3, 2013) A comparison of the three quarters shows that Q2 had the peak of when the majority of respondents thought it was the government’s responsibility. There was a sharp 12 point drop in Q3 and an increase in the proportion of respondents with other views such as “The cost of importing petrol is not the same for all marketers” and “The filling stations are exploiting the public by hoarding fuel”. Averages across the 9 month period indicate the following for 2013: About 56% of Nigerians blame price differences at points of purchase on lack of government monitoring, 21% of Nigerians blame hoarding by filling stations and 20% of Nigerians blame the varying prices of importation. Figure 9: Responsibility for price disparity (Q1, Q2 & Q3 2013) The findings of this poll indicate that in Q3, the Nigerian Government has made clear and strategic interventions in the supply of petrol thereby making it more readily available for Nigerians. This is evident in the drastic 30 point drop in the percentage of people that buy above the official pump price. Q3 is the only quarter of the year 2013 where the majority of Nigerians have claimed to buy at the official pump price; the majority in Q1 and Q2 purchased at prices above the official pump price. The poll result also shows that Nigerians mainly use petrol for their cars and generators Furthermore it reveals that the majority of Nigerians question the effectiveness of bodies set aside to monitor and regulate petrol prices. Survey Methods These are findings on a Poll conducted between July and September 2013 by NOIPolls Limited. A sample of 1,510 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerian adults, aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed by telephone using randomly generated numbers. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage and measurement error, however with a sample of this size there is 95 percent confidence that the results obtained are statistically accurate (giving a range of plus or minus 3percent). NOIPolls Limited is the No.1 for country-specific polling services in West Africa. We work 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. Press Contact The Correspondent Email: thenewsroom@noi-polls.com

  • President’s Approval Rating Declines By 8-Points In September To 49%

    Abuja, Nigeria. October 8th, 2013 – Governance poll results released by NOIPolls Limited for the month of September have revealed that almost half of Nigerians (49%) approve of the President’s performance over the past month. This rating represents an 8-point decline in the President’s approval rating fromAugust (57%) to September (49%). More findings showed that majority (50%) are of the opinion that the present administration performed averagely. In addition, there is a 5-point increase in those who have seen improvements in their power supply for the month of September (from 36% in August to 41% in September). These were the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in the week of September 23rd 2013. The result presented is the ninth of the monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding three crucial elements – the approval rating of the president, the performance of the current administration, and the situation of power supply in the country. Respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions. One, with the aim of gauging the job approval rating of President Goodluck Jonathan over the past month (September)respondents were asked: Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of President Jonathan in the past 1 month? results revealed that overall, majority 49% (42% +7%) are in support of the President’s performance over the past month, with 42% approving and 7% strongly approving of the performance of the President. Relatively, 24% (19%+5%) of respondents disapproved of the President’s performance, with 19% disapproving and 5%strongly disapproving, while, 27% of the respondents were neutral in rating his performance. These figures represent a significant 8-point decrease in the President’s approval rating from August (57%) to September (49%), and a 5-point increase in the proportion that disapproved of the president’s performance from August (19%) to September (24%). Analyses by geo-political zones reveal that the South East with 74% (61%+13%) down from76% in the month of August, has the highest proportion of respondents that approve of the President’s performance. This is followed by the South South with 61% (55%+6%) down from66% in the month of August. In addition, the South West with 42% (38%+4%) up from 23%,  has the highest proportion of respondents that disapprove of the President’s performance while theNorth West with 42% up from 32%, has highest number of neutrals. Evaluating the President’s rating in a nine months series show that the highest approval ratings of the President’s performance were obtained in August (57%), February (54%) and July (53%). Similarly the lowest approval ratings received by the President were in the months of May (44%), June (44%) andApril (42%). Subsequently, with the aim of assessing the performance of the current administration respondents were asked:How would you rate the performance of this current administration in the past 1 month?  Findings reveal that half of Nigerians (50%) believe that the current administration has performed averagely well, others,23% (20%+3%) affirmed they performed well, while 27% (21%+6%) say they performed poorly. An assessment of the current administration’s performance by the geo-political zones reveal that the North Central (61%) and North West (59%) zones have the highest proportion of respondents that rate the performance of the current administration as average; while the South West has the highest proportion of respondents (47%: 38%+9%) that rate the performance of the current administration poorly. Trending the performance of the current administration over a nine month period, the analysis below reveal that the job approval rating of the current administration (executive cabinet- governors and ministers) ministers experienced a surge in February (24%) but declined consecutively till April (16%). A second surge of approval was witnessed in July (28%) and peaked in August (35%). After which we have observed a 12-point decline in the month of September (23%). Lastly, in order to gauge the quality of power supply in Nigeria within the past month, respondents were asked:How would you describe power in your area in the past 1 month? Reactions to this question revealed that the general situation of power improved over the past month as majority 41% (33%+8%) of Nigerians experienced an improvement in their power supply. From these figures, we see a 5-point increase in the proportion of Nigerians that experienced an improvement in the power situation from August (36%) to September (41%). Further analysis by geo-political zones reveal that the power situation has improved in the South South (49%: 41%+8%) and the South East (47%: 7%+40%) but has remained poor/gone worse in the South West (54%: 32%+22%) North West (53%: 44%+9%), these figures are relatively the same when compared to results in August 2013. Evaluating the situation of Power across Nigeria in nine months depicts a general fluctuation in the improvement experienced by Nigerians. January, February and September recorded the best power ratings so far with 47%,44% and 41% respectively while March, April and June with 31%, 31% and 32% respectivelyrecorded the lowest ratings. In conclusion, the results from the current poll have shown that almost half of Nigerians (49%: 42%+7%) are in support of the Presidents performance over the past month. This figures represent a significant 8-point decrease in the President’s approval rating from August (57%) to September (49%). More findings showed that majority (50%) are of the opinion that the present administration performed averagely. In addition, the month of September saw a general improvement in the situation of power as the proportion of Nigerians that experienced improvement increased by 5-points from August (36%) to September (41%). Although, the power situation in Nigeria saw a general improvement from August to September however the approval rating of the president experienced an 8-Points decline. This suggests that several other factors apart from power and the current on-going reforms may have affected the way Nigerians perceive the performance of the President. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted on August 26th to 28th 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,017 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, No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa, 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 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • Business Leaders’ Perception Survey

    Abuja, Nigeria. September 24th, 2013 – A 3-year trended result from the Business Leaders Perception Survey (BLPS) conducted by NOIPolls in 2009, 2010 and 2012 has revealed that the most critical factors limiting Nigerian businesses are power, security, corruption and access to finance. In addition, other factors identified from the studies include roads, water, multiple taxes and smuggling, that also make doing business difficult in Nigeria. These are the key findings from the Business Leaders Perception Survey (BLPS) conducted by NOIPolls in collaboration with the DFID Nigeria Programme – Enhancing Nigerian Advocacy for a Better Business Environment (ENABLE). According to the World Bank “Doing Business Report” 2013, Nigeria ranks 131st on the list of 185 countries in terms of ease of doing business. The report explains the ranking of economies on the basis of how easy it is to undertake business activities, from 1 – 183. A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is more conducive to start and operate a local business. This index averages the country’s percentile rankings on 10 topics, made up of a variety of indicators, giving equal weight to each topic. The rankings for all economies are then benchmarked to the previous year1. The indicators used in ranking the economies include: ease of starting a business, dealing with permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, paying taxes and protecting investors amongst others. The Nigerian business environment has been associated with several factors limiting business operations and hindering the ability of businesses to thrive compared to their counterparts in other business environments. While it is common knowledge that improvements in the enabling environment can lead to higher investments, wealth generation, job creation and ultimately poverty reduction; however, improving the business environment is not always an easy endeavour. It requires cooperation and dialogue between the public and private sector. To make the biggest impact, government and the organised private sector need to work together in order to understand and prioritise the factors limiting business success in the economy. In view of this, NOIPolls in collaboration with DFID/ENABLE has been conducting a series of Business Leaders Perception Survey over the past few years in order to gauge the perceptions of Nigerian business leaders on the business environment with the aim of understanding the factors that are important to the success of business and those that make business difficult in the country. In order to explore the factors that affect the business environment and make business difficult, respondents were asked to indicate the factors that make doing business “very difficult”, “somewhat difficult”, “had room for improvement” or “was not a problem at all”. These were then scored as follows: 1 – not a problem; 2 – could be improved; 3 – makes doing business somewhat difficult; and 4 – makes doing business very difficult. Findings (figure 1) revealed that the major factor that makes business difficult in Nigeria is Power. This was consistent for all three years, however, the level of difficulty that power imposed on business decreased from 3.7 in 2009 to 3.4 in 2010 and increased to 3.5 in 2012. Corruption which was another factor that was identified for imposing difficulty on businesses continued to rise as the years progressed. The level of difficulty it imposed on business increased greatly from 1.1 in 2009 to 2.6 in 2010 and to 3.2 in 2012. 1 www.punchng.com Figure 1: Factors that make business difficult (2009, 2010, and 2012) Furthermore security and access to finance are other factors that make business difficult as identified by the respondents. While security increased from 2.4 in 2009 to 2.6 in 2010 and 3.2 in 2012, access to finance also increased from 2.5 in 2009 to 2.7 in 2010 to 3.1 in 2012. Road was another factor that was identified as factor that impose difficulty in business. The level of difficulty it imposed in business decreased in 2009 from 2.8 to 2.6 in 2010 and increased to 3.1 in 2012. Generally all the factors identified experienced varying level of deterioration from 2009 to 2012. Subsequently respondents were asked to rank the identified factors that make business difficult in order of priority (Figure 2). Ranking the factors that make business difficult in Nigeria revealed that power which topped the chart as the major factor that causes difficulty in 2009 and 2010 was ranked third in 2012. Road which was ranked second in 2009 became of less importance in the preceding years as it was ranked sixth in 2010 and 2012 . In addition corruption which was ranked third in 2009 became second in 2010 and became of priority in 2012 as it topped the chart. In addition, finance which was perceived to impose less difficulty in 2009 rose to third place in 2012. All factors with the same colour code on the graph were ranked equally in the respective years the survey was conducted. Figure 2: Factors that make business difficult (2009, 2010, and 2012) Furthermore security and access to finance are other factors that make business difficult as identified by the respondents. While security increased from 2.4 in 2009 to 2.6 in 2010 and 3.2 in 2012, access to finance also increased from 2.5 in 2009 to 2.7 in 2010 to 3.1 in 2012. Road was another factor that was identified as factor that impose difficulty in business. The level of difficulty it imposed in business decreased in 2009 from 2.8 to 2.6 in 2010 and increased to 3.1 in 2012. Generally all the factors identified experienced varying level of deterioration from 2009 to 2012. Subsequently respondents were asked to rank the identified factors that make business difficult in order of priority (Figure 2). Ranking the factors that make business difficult in Nigeria revealed that power which topped the chart as the major factor that causes difficulty in 2009 and 2010 was ranked third in 2012. Road which was ranked second in 2009 became of less importance in the preceding years as it was ranked sixth in 2010 and 2012 . In addition corruption which was ranked third in 2009 became second in 2010 and became of priority in 2012 as it topped the chart. In addition, finance which was perceived to impose less difficulty in 2009 rose to third place in 2012. All factors with the same colour code on the graph were ranked equally in the respective years the survey was conducted. Survey Methods The fieldwork and analysis for this study were undertaken in 2009, 2010 and 2012. The sample consisted of senior to mid-level executives in Nigerian businesses; cutting across Micro, Small, Medium and Large organisations. The sample population comprised 1000 businesses covering various sectors of the economy and locations. For more information on these surveys, send an email to enquiries@noi-polls.com. NOIPolls is the No. 1 for country-specific polling services in the West African region, 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 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • More Than 6 in 10 Nigerians (64%) Do Not Have Pension Plans

    Abuja, Nigeria. September 10th, 2013 – Latest weekly poll results released by NOIPolls has revealed thatmore than 6 in 10 Nigerians (64%) do not have pension plans, indicating a potentially huge untapped pensions market in Nigeria. Also more than half of the Nigerians who currently have pension plans (54% of 36%) are subscribed to the contributory pension schemes for public organisations. It was further revealed that majority of Nigerianswho have pension plans (73% of 36%) are satisfied with their current Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs); while those who claimed not to be satisfied (27% of 36%) attributed the lack of satisfaction to the non-receipt of updates on their pension accounts. Similarly, for those who do not have any pension plans, the major reasons cited are: “I am a student” (22%), “I don’t have a job” (21%) and “I don’t know much about pensions” (13%). These are the key findings from the Pension Snap Pollconducted in the week of September 2nd, 2013. The Pension Reform Act 2004 enacted by the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Establishes a contributory pension scheme for employees in public and private sectors. The scheme is fully funded, privately managed with a third party in custody of the funds and assets and based on individual accounts. It ensures that everyone who has worked receives his/her retirement benefits as and when due whether in the private or public sector. With the contributory scheme, an employee and employer makes monthly contributions of a minimum of 7.5% each of the monthly emoluments of the employee towards the retirement benefits of the employee. However in some cases, an employer can make all the contributions on behalf of the employee. The old pension schemes in Nigeria were not fully funded and this caused great problems in the management of retirement funds. The implementation of the contributory pension scheme introduced by the Pension Reform Act 2004 has addressed such problems to a certain extent; nevertheless it is not enough for Nigerians to be totally dependent on the scheme. In view of this, Personal pension, which is not common in Nigeria, is an area that can be explored to augment the contributory pension. Individuals regardless of their employment status could choose to save or invest money in order to make provisions for them at retirement.[1] In view of these, NOIPolls conducted its latest poll on Pension to explore the current state of Pension in Nigeria, in terms of the proportion of Nigerians that have pension plans, the type of pension plans people subscribe to and the level of satisfaction with Pension Fund Administrators. Respondents to the poll were asked five specific questions. Firstly, in order to ascertain the proportion of Nigerians that have pension plans, respondents were asked: Currently, do you have a pension plan?Findings from this question revealed that overall Majority (64%) of Nigerians do not have a pension plan, while36% indicated they have pension plans. Analysis based on geo-political zone showed that the South-East and the North-West zones had the highest proportion of Nigerians without pension plans with 68% and 67% respectively; and the South-West zone (41%) accounted for the highest proportion of respondents that have pension plans. [1] www.pencom.gov.ng Secondly, in order to gauge the type of pension plans Nigerians have, respondents that indicted they have pension plans (36% of the total) were asked: What type of pension scheme do you have? Overall, more than half of Nigerians who currently have pension plans (54% of 36%) are subscribed to the contributory pension scheme for public organisations. While 35% have the contributory pension scheme for private organisations, it also emerged true that 11% obtain their own personal pension an independently. From the geo-political zone standpoint, the South-East (76%) and the North-Central (73%) zones accounted for the highest proportion of respondents that indicated public organisation pension scheme. Also the South-South (52%) and the South-West (50%) zones had the highest proportion of respondents that indicated Private pension scheme, while the North-East (42%) zone had the highest number of people who have personal pension plans. Thirdly, in order to measure the level of satisfaction derived from the services of pension fund administrators, respondents who currently have pension plans were asked: Are you currently satisfied with your current pension fund administrator? Overall, majority of Nigerians (73% of 36%) who have pension plans are satisfied with their current Pension Fund Administrators. Comparatively, 27% indicated lack of satisfaction for their pension fund administrators. Gauging the satisfaction according to geo-political zones revealed that the South-West zone with 83% (which also had a high proportion of respondents with the private organisations contributory pension) accounted for the highest proportion of respondents that are satisfied with their Pension Fund Administrators. In addition, the North-West zone (54%) had the highest number of respondents that are not satisfied with their current Pension Fund Administrator. Subsequently, respondents that indicated a lack of satisfaction for their Pension Fund Administrator (27%) were further asked: Why are you not satisfied with your current fund administrator? Findings revealed that the major reason for lack of satisfaction with the Pension Fund Administrator as indicated by (53%) is “No update on my account”. This is followed by “Don’t pay money as and when due” indicated by 23%. Other reasons identified with lack of satisfaction include “Poor customer service” indicated by 11%, “I don’t feel my money is secured with the PFA” indicated by 8% and “No remittance of money” indicated by5%. Further analysis based on geo-political zones showed that while the North-West zone (84%)had the highest proportion of respondents that indicated “No update on my account”, theSouth-South zone (49%) had the highest number of respondents that indicated “Don’t pay money as and when due”. Finally in order to explore the reasons why most Nigerians don’t have Pension, respondents that indicated they did not have pension plans in a previous question (64%) were asked: Why don’t you have pension plan? Findings revealed that the major reasons cited by respondents for not having pension plans include “I am a student” indicated by 22%, ”I don’t have a job” indicated by 21%, “I don’t know much about pension” indicated by 13% and “I am not interested” indicated by 12%. Other reasons cited include “I am self-employed” indicated by 9%, “I don’t have money’ specified by 7%, “I don’t need it for now” specified by 5%, “it is meant for civil servants”. Reasons that came at the bottom of the chart include “I work in a private firm” indicated by 3%, “I don’t trust the Pension Fund Administrators” indicated by 2%and “I will in the future” indicated by 1%. In conclusion, the poll revealed that 6 in 10 Nigerians (64%) do not have pension plans and more than half of Nigerians who currently have pension plans (54% of 36%) are subscribed to the contributory pension scheme for public organisations. Findings also revealed that majority of Nigerians who have pension plans (73% of 36%) are satisfied with their current Pension Fund Administrators. Furthermore, the major reason for lack of satisfaction with the Pension Fund Administrator as indicated by majority (53%) is “No update on my account”. Findings revealed that the major reasons cited for not having a pension plan include “I am a student” indicated by 22%, ”I don’t have a job” by 21%. Finally, this poll has shown that there’s potentially a huge pension market for PFAs to harness in Nigeria. Therefore, they need to device new strategies and design new pensions products to harness this untapped market. Also, there’s need for increased enlightenment and education on the merits and benefits of pensions to individuals and the economy, particularly in terms of mobilising funds for investment. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted from September 2nd to 4th 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1018 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 theNo.1 for country-specific polling services in West Africa. We work 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 judgement 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • President’s Job Approval Rating Reaches Peak of 57% in August 2013

    Abuja, Nigeria. September 3rd, 2013 – Latest monthly governance poll result released by NOIPolls Limited has revealed that almost 6 in 10 (57%) Nigerians approve of President Goodluck Jonathan’s job performance in the month of August 2013. This current score depicts a 4-Point increase in the job approval rating of the President from July (53%) to August (57%)and also marks the highest approval rating the President has scored since January 2013. Furthermore, same as in July, the results indicated that 42% of Nigerians rated the performance of the current administration as average. However, there was a slight decline (2-point) in the proportion of Nigerians (36%) that had experienced some improvements in the power supply in August. Despite this slight decline, the President’s approval rating continued to soar, particularly in the South-East (76%), North Central (70%) and South-South (66%) regions. These were the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in the week of August 26th 2013. The results presented are the eighth in the monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOI Polls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding three crucial elements – the approval rating of the president, the performance of the current administration, and the situation of power supply in the country. Respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions. Firstly, in order to gauge the approval rating of President Goodluck Jonathan over the past 1 month (August) respondents were asked: Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of President Jonathan in the past 1 month?: The result from this question revealed that, overall, almost 6 in 10 Nigerians surveyed (57%: 14%+43%) approve of the President’s job performance over the past month, where 14% strongly approve and 43% approve. These figures clearly depict a 4-point increase in the proportion of Nigerians that approve of the President’s performance from July(53%) to August (57%); and emerged as the best rating so far in eight months. Comparatively, a total of 19% of respondents indicated disapproval of the President’s performance, with 15% indicating they disapprove and 4%strongly disapprove, while, 24% of the respondents remained neutral in rating his performance as they neither approve nor disapprove. Assessing the President’s performance across geo-political zones showed that the South-East zone with 76% (22%+54%) had the highest proportion of respondents that approved of the President’s performance in the past one month up from 72% in July. This is followed by the North-Central zone with 70% (26%+44%) up from 56% in July and the South-South zone with 66% (12%+54%) up from 62% in July. The highest proportion of respondents that disapproved of the President’s performance were from the North-West zone with 31% (28%+3%) down from 40% in July, followed by the North-East zone with 26% (14%+12%) down from 31% in July. The largest number of respondents that were neutral towards the president’s performance was from the South-West zone with 33% up from 26% in July. In addition, more female(60%) than male (54%) respondents approve of the President’s job performance. A general assessment of the president’s rating in an eight months series showed that the approval rating of the President’s performance initially experienced an increase from January (50%) to February (54%), and then experienced a continuous decline from February to April (42%). Afterwards, it increased in May (44%) and was stable in June and has experienced a continuous increase in three months from June (44%) to August (57%);the highest rating so far in 2013. Secondly, in order to measure the performance of the current administration respondents were asked: How would you rate the performance of this current administration in the past 1 month? Overall, the majority (42%) are of the opinion that the current administration has performed averagely. In addition, while a total of 35% indicated they performed well, where 8% said they’ve performed very well and 27% said they’ve performed well; 23% rated their performance as poor, with 4% percent saying they’ve performed very poorly and 19% saying they’ve performed poorly. Furthermore, similar to the President’s approval rating, the 35% positive rating of the administration marks a 7-point increase from the 28% in July 2013. Gauging these results across geo-political zones further revealed that the South-South zone had the highest proportion of respondents (54%) that rated the performance of the current administration as average. In addition, while the South-East zone records the highest number of respondents (49%) that rated the performance of the current administration positively, the North-East (34%) accounted for the highest number of respondents that rated their performance negatively. Again, an assessment of the performance of the current administration in eight months revealed that the job approval rating of the current administration experienced an increase from January (22%) to February (24%)and then declined in two months consecutively till April (16%). From the month of May (21%) it again experienced a continuous increase till August (35%), which represents the highest figures in eight months. Lastly, in order to evaluate the general situation of power in Nigeria within the past month, respondents were asked: How would you describe power in your area in the past 1 month? Findings revealed that overall,36% (5%+31%) of Nigerians experienced an improvement in the power situation over the past month, where5% experienced very much improvement and 31% experienced little improvement.  In addition, (27%) of the respondents were of the opinion that “it remains bad”, 21% indicated that “there’s no difference at all”, while16% of the respondents stated that the power situation “is very bad and has gone worse”. Analysis based on geo-political zones showed that, majority of the respondents that experienced an improvement in the power situation in August were from the South-South zone (53%). The North-Central zones with 29%represents the highest number of respondents that say “there’s no difference at all” in the power situation over the past month. In addition, the North-East zone accounted for the highest proportion of respondents (42%)that indicated power supply in their area “remains bad” while the South-West zone (26%) accounted for the most number of respondents that say “it’s very bad has gone worse”. An overview of the power situation in eight months depicts a 2-points decline in the proportion of respondents that experienced improvement in the power situation in their area compared to July’s 38% score. Findings also revealed that January and February recorded the best power ratings with 47% and 44% respectively, while March & April (31% each) recorded the lowest proportion of respondents that experienced an improvement. In conclusion, findings from the current poll have revealed that the President’s performance rating reached its peak in eight months at 57%. This figure depicts a 4-Point increase in the approval rating of the President’s performance from July (53%) to August (57%). Also, 42% of respondents were of the opinion that the administration performed averagely. Interestingly, there was a 2-points decline in the proportion of Nigerians that had experienced improvements in power supply for the month of August (36%) compared to July (38%).However, despite the decline, the President’s job approval rating still soared; suggesting that beyond power supply, the President’s performance on other critical areas of the economy & polity may be responsible for his continued positive ratings. Perhaps media reports around heightened security & reported death of Abubakar Shekau, the strides in railway transportation & commencement of rail haulage from Lagos to Kano, as well as the formal opening of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport & the maiden flight of Ethiopian Airlines, which will serve as a major economic booster, may have endeared respondents; particularly in the South-East region where the President had the highest job approval rating of 76%. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted on August 26th to 28th 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,004 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 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 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • Poor Enlightenment Hinders Insurance Penetration Among the General Public

    Abuja, Nigeria. August 27th, 2013 – Latest weekly poll results released by NOIPolls has revealed that almost 9 in 10 Nigerians (86%) do not have any form of insurance cover. The results have also indicated thatVehicle/Car insurance (63%) is the most commonly purchased insurance cover, and Insurance companies (42%) and agents (41%) are the key channels of insurance purchase. Furthermore, the major causes of the low market penetration and poor insurance culture are low awareness and poor enlightenment on the benefits of insurance (40%). The poll also reveals huge potentials for insurance companies and practitioners to design new products to target Nigeria’s bulging youth population. These are the key findings from the Retail Insurance Snap Poll conducted in the week of August 19th, 2013. According to a recent media report, the insurance culture in Nigeria can best be described as almost non-existent. Despite the fact that the Nigerian environment has a high and increasing level of risk, less than 2% of Insurable risks are covered by insurance.[1] Previous studies have shown that low awareness and lack of knowledge about insurance products characterize people’s opinions about the insurance sector. Apart from these, negative perceptions of Nigerians towards insurance have generally inhibited the growth of the sector. For instance many are of the opinion that insurance companies are more concerned in collecting premiums, than in settling claims thus affecting the general confidence in the insurance companies. There are also cultural and religious factors associated with the slow growth of the insurance sector. Anecdotal evidences suggest that the demand for insurance cover in Nigeria may be affected by various cultural and religious beliefs in the country in a way that it affects people’s perceptions on risk aversion. For instance, some religions have created a strong disapproval to life insurance, declaring that dependence on life insurance brings about a distrust of God‘s protecting care.[2] In view of these, NOIPolls conducted its latest poll on Retail Insurance to explore the insurance culture in Nigeria in terms of the level of patronage and the reasons surrounding poor insurance culture in Nigeria. Respondents were asked four specific questions. Firstly, in order to measure the proportion of Nigerians that have insurance, respondents were asked: At present, do you have any form of insurance cover in your name? Overall, the majority of Nigerians (86%) do not have any form of insurance cover; thus indicating low insurance penetration in the country and poor insurance culture amongst Nigerians. Analysis across geo-political zones, reveal that the South-West zone (34%) had the highest number of Nigerians that have insurance, while the North-East (96%) and North-West (81%)zones both accounted for the highest proportion that indicated they have no insurance of any form. Analysis based on age group showed that the highest proportion of insured Nigerians are within the age category of 45-54 years (34%); followed by people within the 55-65 years age group with 26%, and 65+ group with 22%. On the other hand, there’s very low insurance penetration for youths within the ages of 18-21 (0%) and 22-34 (4%); signalling huge market potentials for insurance companies and practitioners who can design products to target this market segment. [1] www.vanguard.com [2] http://www.nigerianorientnews.com/?p=2932 Secondly, in order to gain insight to the forms of insurance cover Nigerians have, respondents that indicated they have insurance cover (14% of the total), were asked: What type of insurance cover do you have in your name? The findings reveal that the most common form of insurance cover that Nigerians buy is Vehicle/Car insurance as specified by majority (63%). This is followed by Life assurance (20%), Property (17%) and Health (16%). Looking across geo-political zones, findings further reveal that while the South-East zone accounted for the highest proportion of Nigerians that have Vehicle/Car insurance cover (78%), the South-West has the highest proportion of respondents with Life assurance (37%). Furthermore, the North-Central zone (33%) had the highest number of respondents that indicated Property as the form of insurance they currently have. Further analysis based on age showed that all the respondents aged 55 years and above (100%) claimed to have Vehicle/Car insurance and 50% of respondents within the age category of 65 years and above had life assurance. Thirdly, in order to explore the channels through which Nigerians purchase their insurance covers, respondents that have insurance covers (14% of the total) were further asked: Where do you buy your insurance from? Responses showed that the slight majority of Nigerians purchase insurance covers directly from insurance companies (42%), closely followed by insurance agents (41%). Also, 11% indicated that they purchase insurance fromBanks. Furthermore, while more male (50%) than female (31%) respondents purchased their insurance covers through insurance companies, more female (53%) than male (35%) respondents purchase insurance covers from agents. From the geo-political standpoint, all respondents from the North-West zone that have insurance covers indicated insurance company as their channel of purchase, while the North-Central zone (78%) accounted for the highest proportion of respondents that buy insurance covers from insurance agents. Finally, respondents that had previously indicated they do not have insurance cover (86% of the total) were asked: Why don’t you have any form of insurance cover? Responses show that the majority (40%) mentioned “I am not aware/Lack of enlightenment about insurance” and its benefits as the main reason why they do not have any form of insurance cover. This is followed by 26% who indicated “it is not necessary; No need for it; No interest in it” and 14% who claimed “it is expensive; I cannot afford it”. In addition 9% stated “I do not trust insurance companies; they are not genuine”, 6% indicated “I do not believe in it; it is against my culture/religion”. It is imperative to note that only 9% stated that they do not trust insurance companies, compared to some decades ago when insurance practitioners were considered fraudulent for use of hidden clauses and non-payment of claims. These findings show that while the image and reputation of insurance companies and practitioners may have improved over the years, the low awareness and poor enlightenment on the benefits of insurance is perceived to be the main factor responsible for the general low patronage. Further analysis based on geo-political zones show that the North-West zone (58%) had the highest number of people that indicated lack of awareness and poor enlightenment as reasons for not having insurance covers. This is followed by the North-East zone with 53%. Also, the South-South and South-West zones with 33% each accounted for the highest proportion of respondents that claimed “it is not necessary; No need for it; No interest in it” In conclusion, the results and findings from this poll have revealed that majority of Nigerians (86%) do not have any form of insurance cover, confirming low market penetration and poor insurance culture in Nigeria. Results have also revealed that vehicle/car insurance (63%) is the most commonly purchased insurance cover; compared to a much smaller 20% that have life assurance. Insurance companies (42%) and agents (41%) are the major channels of insurance purchase. Furthermore, the major causes of the poor insurance culture that emerged from the poll are low awareness and poor enlightenment about insurance (40%). Overall, there must be renewed attempts to promote the insurance industry and communicate the benefits of essential Insurance products such as life, accident, burglary and health to the general public. Finally, these findings indicate huge market potentials for insurance companies and practitioners who will be able to invest more in advertising and media campaigns to clearly inform the public on the benefits of insurance; and would be willing to design suitable retail insurance products to meet the needs of the underserved population. In particular, specific products targeted at youths between 18 to 34 years may hold the strongest potential, since they currently have an average insurance penetration of 2%. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted on August 19th to 21st 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1018 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • President’s Approval Rating at 53% in July; Second Best Rating in Seven Months

    Abuja, Nigeria.  August 6th, 2013 – Latest governance poll results released by NOI Polls Limited for the month of July 2013 has revealed that the President’s approval rating increased by 9-points (53%) after remaining constant at 44% in May and June 2013. In addition, the results reveal a slight improvement in the situation of power supply as more Nigerians experienced an improvement (38%) in July, compared to June(32%), thus creating a positive effect on the approval rating of the President. The current results further affirm previous findings by NOI Polls that suggests a link between the perception of power supply and the approval rating of the president. Further analysis reveals that while about 38% of Nigerians claimed to have experienced improvement in power supply, four geo-political regions accounted for the highest proportion of respondents – North-Central (51%), North-East (47%), South-East (41%) and South-South (40%). Similarly, three out of the four regions also accounted for the highest ratings of the President’s 53% approval in July – North-Central(56%), South-East (73%), and South-South (62%). These are few of the key findings from the governance snap poll conducted in the week of July 22nd 2013. The results presented are the 7th in the monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOI Polls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding three critical elements – the approval rating of the president, the performance of the current administration, and the situation of power supply in the country. As in previous months, respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions. Firstly, in order to measure the approval evaluation of President Goodluck Jonathan over the past 1 month (July) respondents were asked:Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of President Jonathan in the past 1 month:Response to this question revealed some interesting findings (Figure 1). Overall the majority (53%: 10%+43%)approve of the President’s performance, where 10% strongly approve and 43% approve of his performance. This finding shows a considerably 9-point increase from the previous month’s (June) 44% approval rating. The proportion of respondents that rated the president’s performance negatively in July came to a total of 25%(compared to 26% in June), with 21% disapproving and 4% strongly disapproving of his performance in the past one month. In addition, 22% of the respondents remained neutral in rating his performance as they neither approve nor disapprove (compared to 30% in June). Gauging the President’s performance across geo-political zones further revealed that the South-East zone with73% (58%+15%) accounted for the highest proportion of respondents that rated the President’s performance positively in the past one month. This was followed by the South-South zone with 62% (49%+13%) and theNorth-Central zone with 56% (41%+15%). The lowest proportion of respondents (38%) that approved of the President performance for the month of July came from the North-East zone. Majority of the respondents that disapproved of the President’s performance were from the North-West zone with 40% (34%+6%), followed by the North-East zone with 31%. The highest number of respondents that were neutral towards the president’s performance were from the North-East zone with 31%. Furthermore, the proportion of respondents that approved of the President’s performance experienced an average increase of 9-points across all the geo-political zones from June to July; however, the South-East zone recorded the highest increase of  21% from June (52%) to July (73%). Figure 1 Further comparison between the President’s performance in July and the six month trended average (illustrated in Figure 2) showed, on the one hand, that the president’s approval rating experienced a 6-point increase in the month of July (53%) compared to the average score from the previous six months (47%: Jan to Jun). On the other hand,his disapproval experienced a 3-point decline in July (25%) compared to the average score from the previous six months (28%). Also, there was a 3-point decline in the number of respondents that were neutral in July (22%) compared to the six months average of 25%. Figure 2 Secondly, in order to ascertain the performance of the current administration respondents were asked: How would you rate the performance of this current administration in the past 1 month? Overall, the majority (42%) are of the opinion that the current administration has performed averagely. This finding depicts a 5-point decline from June (47%). In addition, a total of 28% are of the opinion that the administration has performed well, also marking a 5-point increase from June 2013 (23%). However, 30% rated their performance as poor (same as in June). An evaluation of the current administration’s performance based on geo-political zones showed that the North-East zone had the highest proportion of respondents (54%) that rated the performance of the current administration as average. While the South-East zone accounted for the highest number of respondents (45%)that rated the current administration positively, the North-West (46%) recorded the highest number of respondents that rated their performance negatively. Figure 3 Figure 4 which portrays comparisons of the performance assessment of the current administration in July with average figures obtained from the previous six months, showed some variations in the ratings. Respondents that indicated the current administration performed well increased by 6-points in July (28%: 4%+24%) against the six month average (22%: 3%+19%) and by 5% from June (23%) to July. Similarly, respondents that rated the performance of the current administration as average declined by 5-points from June (47%) to July (42%),and by 8-points when compared with six months average of 50%. Furthermore, the proportion of respondents that were of the opinion that the current administration performed poorly increased by 2-points in July (30%: 24%+6%) compared with average from previous six months (28%: 22%+6%) and remained the same as in June. Figure 4 Thirdly, in order to evaluate the general situation of power in Nigeria within the past month, respondents were asked: How would you describe power in your area in the past 1 month? In response to this, the overall majority (30%) indicated that the power situation in their area has improved a little, this is followed by respondents  (22%) that were of the opinion that “there’s no difference at all”, and those that indicated “it remains bad” (22%). In addition, while 18% of the respondents stated that the power situation “remains very bad and has gone worse”, 8% affirmed that it has improved very much (Figure 5). The results indicate that a total of 38% (30% + 8%) of respondents affirmed that they have experienced slight improvements in power supply in the month of July, compared to the previous month (June: 32%). From a regional standpoint, majority of the respondents (40%) that experienced a little improvement in the month of July were from the North-Central zone (51%), followed by the North-East (47%), South-East (41%) and the South-South (40%) zones. In addition, the North-West zone accounted for the highest proportion of respondents (36%) that indicated power supply in their area “remains bad” and also accounted for the most number of respondents (25%) that say “it’s very bad has gone worse”. Figure 5 Moving further, Figure 6 compares the current July results with the average of the previous six months, and reveals that the proportion of Nigerians that experienced very much improvement increased by 3-points in July compared to the average obtained from January to June. Those that experienced a little improvement had a 1-point decline in July (30%) compared to the average of the previous six months (31%). The proportion of respondents that did not experience any difference in the power situation in July (22%) was at par with the average obtained from the previous six months. Furthermore, there was a 1-point decrease each in July in the proportion of respondents that indicated power remains bad (22%) and the proportion that say power supply it’s very bad, it has gone worse (18%) compared to the average of previous six months recorded at 23% and 19%respectively. Figure 6 In conclusion, findings from the current poll have shown that about 5 in 10 Nigerians (53%) approve of the job performance of President Goodluck Jonathan, and this rating marks a 9-point increase from the month of June(44%). This current July rating of 53% ranks as the second best rating in seven months, behind February(54%). The results also revealed that although majority think the present administration performed averagely, however the proportion of Nigerians that think they performed well increased by 6-points from June (23%)  to July (28%) and by 6% in comparison to the average obtained from the previous six months (22%).  Furthermore, the current results reveal slight improvements in the power situation (38%), compare to the previous month (June: 32%). This further affirms previous findings by NOI Polls suggesting a link between the perception of power supply and the approval rating of the president. Consequently, it is clear that one way the President can improve his approval rating is to ensure his power sector reform is sustained and that power supply is improved across the country. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted on July 26th to 30th 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,004 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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

  • 47 Percent of Nigerians Experienced Poor Power Supply in 2nd Quarter of 2013

    Abuja, Nigeria. July 23, 2013 –The series of Power Sector Polls conducted by NOI Polls Limited in the second quarter of 2013 has revealed that an average of 47% of Nigerian adults said that electricity supply was poor or went from bad to worse. The results also indicate that about 8 in 10 of those interviewed (81%) generate their own power supply through alternative sources to compensate for irregular power supply; while a combined average of 69% have experienced increase in their spending on alternative power supply compared to a year ago. These are some of the key findings from the power sector polls for the 2nd quarter (Q2) of 2013. The Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA), passed in 2005, initiated the unbundling of government’s power plants under the Nigerian Electricity Power Authority (NEPA). They were formed into business units and regulated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) thus paving the way for public-private partnership and consequently the privatization of the power sector. The privatization process is still underway and is intended to revive the power sector and invariably the Nigerian economy, as homes and industries alike will receive adequate and consistent quality of power supply. In order to ascertain the perceptions of Nigerians regarding the power sector reforms, the hours of power supply received daily and expenditure on alternative sources of power compared to a year ago, NOI Polls introduced thePower Sector Polls Project in April 2013 to monitor these trends and will release quarterly reports on findings of the polls. This result release marks the first in the series. Key Findings Over 3000 phone owning Nigerian adults aged 18 years and above were interviewed across this three month period (April-June) and some of their responses to the poll will be analysed in this report. In order to measure the level of power supply to households, respondents were asked: How would you describe power supply in your area in the past 1 month? : A combined average of 47% said power supply had either remained bad (25%) or had worsened (22%); compared with about 33% who said they witnessed some slight improvement, and 20% who experienced no difference in the past month. Nonetheless, it is worth pointing that the poll results indicate a 1-point increase between April and June (April: 31, June: 32) of respondents who saw some improvement, a 5-point drop in respondents who said it remains bad (April: 27, June: 22) and a 3-point increase in those who said it remained the same (April: 18, June: 21). The polls have indicated a link between power supply and the president’s approval rating; as it was observed that in the months where respondents perceived that power improved, the president’s rating seemed to increase and vice versa. The month of May had the best power supply of the three months. Figure 1 illustrates the three month trend. Figure 1: Perception of power supply in the past month The next question sought to measure the typical number of hours of continuous power supply experienced in the household on a daily basis: On the average, how many hours of continuous power supply does your household experience daily? Averages across three months show that between April and June 42% of respondents claimed to experience about 1-4 hours of power supply on a typical day. There marks a 4-point decline in the proportion of respondents who received 1-4 hours of continuous power between April and June (April: 45%, June: 41%); a 7-point increase in respondents who received 15-19 hours of power (April: 3%, June 10%); and also a 2-point increase in respondents who received 10-14 hours of power (April: 9%, June: 11%). However, corroborating the findings above, the month of May appeared to have had the highest level of power supply with 10% of respondents saying they received 15-19 hours of power supply, which dropped by 4-points in June. Also, 25% said they received 5-9 hours of power supply, which also dropped by 3-points in June. Equally in May, 9% of respondents (the lowest for the 3 months) claimed to have received no power at all. Therefore it can be concluded that power supply slightly dipped between May and June. Figure 2 shows this trend analysis. Figure 2: Hours of power supply received Moving forward, in order to ascertain the proportion of Nigerians that use alternative sources of power supply, respondents were asked: Do you use any alternate source of electricity supply such as generators or inverters? Findings show that between April and June an average of 81% of Nigerian adults (8 in 10 Nigerian adults) use other sources of electricity apart from the power supplied to households by PHCN. These ties in with the petrol pump price monitoring polls conducted by NOI Polls that revealed that Nigerians mainly use petrol for their generators. The findings indicate that in May, there was a 5-point drop in the number of Nigerians that used alternative sources of power supply. However, when analyzed across the 3 months, there was actually a 3 point increase. The proportion of Nigerians that used alternative sources experienced a 5-point decline between April (82%) and May (77%) and an 8-point increase between May and June (85%). This shows that because power was relatively better in May, less people needed to use alternatives to generate power. Figure 3 illustrates this finding. Figure 3: Use of alternate sources of electricity In order to gauge the spending trend of Nigerians on alternative power sources, respondents were asked: How would you describe the amount you currently spend on alternative power compared to a year ago? Averages over the three month period show that 46% of Nigerians, forming the majority, experienced a drastic increase in their spending on alternative sources compared to a year ago.This is followed by 23% that experienced a slight increase, and 15% that indicated a slight decrease in their spending. While 12% of the respondents did not experience any change at all in their spending, an average of 3% claimed that their spending on alternative sources of power decreased drastically in comparison to the previous year. In essence, a combined average of 69% experienced some form of increase in their spending on alternative sources of power sources. A comparison of the findings of the three months shows the following: a 10 point increase in respondents who saw a drastic increase between April and June (April: 42%, June: 52%) and a 24 point drop in respondents who saw a slight increase in spending between April and June (April 31%, June: 17%). The findings show that May had the highest percentage with 14% of respondents across the three months whose spending remained the same, tying into the previous findings that reveal that May had improved power across the three months. Figure 4 shows the three month trend of the responses on spending. Figure 4: Cost of alternative power supply compared to a year ago To ascertain the level of awareness of respondents on the reformation of the power sector by the Nigerian government, respondents were asked: Are you aware that the Federal Government is making efforts to reform the power sector? The findings show that an average of 64% of Nigerian adults are aware of the power sector reforms, while 36% of Nigerians are unaware. The month of June with 75% had the highest level of awareness. The high percentage of Nigerians who are unaware of the reforms signifies an insufficiency in the level of publicity of the power sector reforms. Figure 5 illustrates the findings. Figure 5: Awareness of the power sector reforms Finally in order to gain further insight into the perception of Nigerians regarding the on-going power sector reforms, respondents were asked: How do you feel about these on-going power reforms? Responses reveal that an average of about 53% of Nigerian adults are hopeful about the reforms and they form the majority. Tying into the earlier mentioned finding of power supply being better in May, the findings indicate that in May, the highest percentage (64%) of Nigerians were hopeful, showing a link between power supply and faith in the government. On the flipside, a combined average of about 17% of Nigerians dissatisfied with the power sector reforms so far; while an average of 20% are indifferent, and can sway either way, depending on the success of the reform efforts and whether it translates into steady power supply or not. Figure 6: Perception of the reforms Results from the power sector polls show that in the second quarter of 2013, power supply was highest in May and a majority of Nigerians have experienced a drastic increase in cost of alternative power supply compared to a year ago. The polls further indicate that Nigerians are somewhat hopeful that the on-going reform in the power sector will succeed and translate to steady power supply. In subsequent months and by the end of the year, there will be more information on the trend of power supply in Nigeria and also perceptions on the power sector reforms. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted between April and June 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample of over 3,000 phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country. 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 organization, which works in technical partnership with the Gallup Organization (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. Press Contact The Editor Email: editor@noi-polls.com

bottom of page