₦airaland Forum

Key highlights

-Buhari government scores low on jobs, economy, power
-More Nigerians hold Buhari responsible for the economy
-Overall approval for the Buhari government declines
-Nigerian Senate maintains lowest approval rating of governmental institutions
-Nigerian Army remains highest rated National Institution
-Kachikwu rated best performing minister
-Concerns about abuse of rule of law grows
-Majority hold negative view of the selection of Ali Modu @Sherriff as the PDP Chairman
-79% give poor ratings to government’s handling of Fulani Herdsmen clashes
-72% of Nigerians do not support any political parties
-Buhari government overall approval rating declines


We saw the sharpest decline in the month-to-month approval ratings for the president yet in our polls. High approval ratings dropped from 63.4% in January to 32.8% in the February poll. Overall, a slight majority of Nigerians (50.4%) gave the Buhari administration average (17.6%) or high approval ratings (32.8%). As with previous polls, we provided respondents with a 5 point-scale response to this question. We maintained our approach of not using a simple forced two-scale measure of approval (Yes or No) to enable a deeper understanding of the nuances that informed respondents’ choices. A positive approval rating in our terminology refers only to those respondents that reported either an “Excellent” or “Good” rating. A negative rating comprises of those individuals that reported a “Poor” or “Very Poor” rating.

Security, Anticorruption, Power and the Economy are priority areas

Respondents were provided with a number of key segments and focus areas for the government and were required to provide a forced three tier ranking (High, Medium, Low) of their perceptions of the importance of each of the areas.

Under the “High” ranking response, security (Boko Haram Crisis) was rated as the most important area of concern and/or interest by 55% of Nigerians, continuing the trend from the January poll. The top 5 rated areas overall were Security (55%), Anti-Corruption (51%), Power (51%), Economy & Jobs (50%) and Education (45%).

Anticorruption war remains popular, but concerns grow over abuse of rule of law


Support for the anti-corruption war dropped from about 76% in the January poll, to just under 45% in this poll. We also saw an increase in the number of Nigerians that are critical of the way the anti-corruption war is being prosecuted. More Nigerians indicated that the anti-corruption war targets the president’s political opponents (34.4% in February vs 15.5% in January) and opposition PDP members (33.1% in February vs 16.8% in January). Those expressing concern about the potential for abuse of the rule of law in the prosecution of corruption cases increased from 21.5% in the January poll to 35.3% in February.

It is not clear why this shift in the support for the anticorruption war has occurred. Future polls will include questions aimed at better understanding the basis for this shift.

Anticorruption and Security remain bright spots; Nigerians score government low on economy, housing, healthcare, education and power.


The government received low ratings from majority of respondents in six of the nine areas surveyed. The worst ranked areas were Housing (74%), Economy & Jobs (73%), Healthcare (62%), Transportation (62%), Power (59%) and Education (58%).

Combining “High” and “Medium” ratings, the three highest ranked areas are Anticorruption (75%), Security (70%) and Availability of Petroleum Products (60%).

Majority of Nigerians are against devaluation of the Naira


A majority of Nigerians (62.6%) indicated opposition to the devaluation of the Naira. While this position is popular, most economists have indicated that the Buhari’ government’s defense of the Naira is not sustainable in the long run given the lack of sufficient reserves to offset the dollar deficit that has led to downward pressures on the value of the Naira.

Majority shift blame on Economy to Buhari government – reversing earlier trends that laid responsibility on the Jonathan government


For the first time since the Buhari presidency, more Nigerians held the current government responsible for the current state of the Nigerian economy. In the February poll, 35% of Nigerians indicated that the Buhari government was “completely to blame” for the state of the Nigerian economy (versus 14% in the January poll), compared to 30% who indicated the past government of Goodluck Jonathan was to blame (compared to 59% in the January poll). This seismic shift in responsibility for the economy to the Buhari administration marks a major change in attitudes by the Nigerian people. President Buhari made more economic policy statements in the month of February than at any other time in his administration, which clearly signaled to the Nigerian people that his government’s policy choices are directly responsible for their economic realities.

Majority are troubled by the economy, optimism about the future drops


Majority of Nigerians (55.3%) expressed concerns about the economy – an increase from the January poll (37.6%). On every metric measured, Nigerians were generally more negative about their current and future economic prospects. Optimism about the economy dropped from 45.2% in the January poll to 30.3% in February. Positive feelings about the future, dropped from 51.1% to 35.8%. The percentage of respondents indicating that they saw encouraging signs for jobs and employment dropped from 33.6% to 20.6%. The percentage of respondents indicating that they saw no signs that anything was being done by the Buhari government to create jobs, increased from 18.7% to 36%.

Kachikwu continues to shine in ministerial performance ratings; Lai maintains sec[/b]ond place


Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum retained his position as the highest rated minister, with 33.3% of respondents giving him high ratings (very high plus high). Lai Mohammed was the second rated minister with 22.3% high ratings. Raji Fashola, was rated third for his work in the power sector (15.2%), while Adebayo Shittu, the Communications Minister was ranked a close fourth with 15.1%.

[b]Nigerian Senate maintains lowest approval rating of major governmental institutions (12%);
Army is the most respected national institution (49%)


Respondents were asked to rate the two (2) major political parties and ten (10) major governmental institutions, i.e., the Presidency, Senate, House of Representatives, Army, Police, Judiciary, the 3 anti-corruption organs – EFCC, ICPC and CCB and the Central Bank.

The Nigerian Army was the most highly rated governmental institution, with 49.4% of respondents rating it as high or very high. The EFCC ranked second with 33.7% of respondents giving it high or very high ratings. The Presidency ranked third with 32.4% high approval ratings.

The APC was the highest ranked political party, with 16.3% high approval ratings compared to the PDP’s 4.2%.

Majority disapprove of government’s handling of Fulani Herdsmen attacks


The Buhari government continued to receive high approvals for its handling of the Boko Haram crisis (66%). As the Shiite – Military conflict has dragged on, the approval ratings for the government’s handling of that conflict has dropped, with 42% now showing support for the government’s handling of that conflict, compared to 59% in the January poll. 61% of respondents disapprove of the government’s handling of the pro-Biafra agitation. As news of rampaging attacks by Fulani herdsmen in an increasing number of communities have continued to emerge, the government’s handling of this crisis has come under increasing scrutiny. Nigerians’ views about the Buhari government’s handling of the Fulani herdsmen crisis has dropped to a new low, as 79% of respondents rated the government’s handling of the Fulani herdsmen attacks as poor or very poor, compared to 60% in the January poll.

Disaffection with both major political parties grows


An increasing number of Nigerians continue to indicate that they do not support any political party. In the February poll, the number of independents increased to 71.6%. Those expressing support for the APC dropped to 19.9% from the January poll value of 31.1%, while the number of Nigerians expressing support for the PDP in this poll was 8.6%.

Ali Modu Sherriff’s selection as PDP Chairman not considered favorable


A major development in the January – February timeframe was the PDP’s controversial selection of Ali Modu Sheriff as the new party Chairman. A majority of respondents (88.4%) indicated that Mr. Sheriff’s selection would not make it more likely for them to support the PDP. When we analyzed the impact of Mr. Sheriff’s selection on respondents who had indicated that they do not support any political party, 90.72% indicated that his choice as leader of the PDP did not enhance their view of the party. Amongst Nigerians who indicated that they were supporters of the PDP, Mr. Sherriff’s selection was viewed negatively by 58.62% of respondents.

Methodology & Disclosure

The survey was administered using electronic media between February 22nd and 29th, 2016. A total of 757 complete responses were received. The survey results have a 4% margin of error at a 95% confidence level. The Governance Advancement Initiative for Nigeria (GAIN) Poll is a public service survey intended to track the performance of government at all levels and provide feedback from the public to their elected officials. GAIN also periodically publishes policy statements to provide perspectives on key policy and governance areas. GAIN surveys are coordinated by Dr. Malcolm Fabiyi and Dr. Adeleke Otunuga. Any inquiries regarding the survey should be directed to claypolconsult@gmail.com.
http://saharareporters.com/2016/03/04/buharis-honeymoon-over-popularity-slips-according-gain-poll

It's not easy to make good an already battered lady.
When you try treating her lacerations,she will feel more pains.
It's takes time before she get heeled and smile.

Dr Malcom Fabiyi,Malcom X,was the president of the University of Lagos Students Union government in 1995.He became the president of the union after the tenure of Sowore Omoyele,founder of Sahara Reporters.Malcom 'X' studied Chemical Engineering and finished with a First Class Honours.He then went on to obtain his doctoral degree in the University of Cambridge...

It is only the Aisha Akara APC youth that think otherwise.

Deluded group of charlatans, whose deeds and hypocrisy will sooner than later catch up with.

i think the approval rating is 20% because nothing is working .Nnamdi Kanu said it that you cant entrust the management of a country to Hausa
-fulani cattle rearer.I think he made sense because post independence these people have been ruling us but see where we re as a nation.

Well things are quite difficult especially because of the crises in the oil market, oil which is responsible for 90% of our economic standing. But it makes me sleep very well at night to know that the apc still has a much higher support, rating, approval and acceptibility than the pdp despite the difficulties! What it means is that despite the flaws of the apc, the people do not consider the pdp as an option or alternative. Iam very happy about that. Don't worry people, things will get better.

I am not surprised. I don't know much about Nigerian politics and so cannot give any verdict on Jonathtan's administration, but surely Nigeria can do better than this man with little or no education, intelligence, no coherence in speech etc. Nigerians at home are smarter than this... so we are led to believe.
The next presidential candidate should be forced to have a debate about their plans for the country. In addition, they must be questioned becuase this is where you can know who has a plan and who doesn't.

They only polled Igbos. The rest of Nigeria think he is doing a fantastic job.

Maybe the country needs a very good and credible opposition party. Pdp have played their part and made a complete mess. APC áre on, and things don't look too bright ATM. Maybe KOWA can give shot.

Dollyak:
I am not surprised. I don't much about Nigeria politics and so cannot give any verdict on Jonathtan's administration, but surely Nigeria can do better than this man. Nigerians are smarter than this... so it appears anyways.

This comment is totally inconsistent with some topics you have raised here on Nairaland.

Dollyak:
I am not surprised. I don't know much about Nigerian politics and so cannot give any verdict on Jonathtan's administration, but surely Nigeria can do better than this man with little or no education, intelligence, no coherence in speech etc. Nigerians at home are smarter than this... so we are led to believe.
The next presidential candidate should be forced to have a debate about their plans for the country. In addition, they must be questioned becuase this is where you can know who has a plan and who doesn't.

Everybody has a plan until they get smacked in the face. We have over a million corrupt and influencial men and women who would always he around to pull a regime down.

bokohalal:
They only polled Igbos. The rest of Nigeria think he is doing a fantastic job.

Zombie spotted!

Pennsylvania:
Zombie spotted!

Igbo!

bokohalal:
This comment is totally inconsistent with some topics you have raised here on Nairaland.

I am not well placed to judge Jonathan's administration because I am not in the system.... In addition, there seems to be many conflicting stories about his tenure here on nl. However, buhari's previous inciting and frankly tribalistic comments/actions are well documented both on nl and in the papers. What qualities qualifies him as a president? Once you think deeply about this question, then you know it can only be a slippery slope.

bokohalal:
Igbo!

Igbo has nothing to do with this. If you can't see the way things has depreciated from bad to worse in this country because of bigotry, then you're one of the problems of this country.

Dollyak:
I am not well placed to judge Jonathan's administration because I am not in the system.... In addition, there seems to be many conflicting stories about his tenure here on nl. However, buhari's previous inciting and frankly tribalistic comments/actions are well documented both on nl and in the papers. What qualities qualifies him as a president? Once you think deeply about this question, then you know it can only be a slippery slope.

You are certainly not well placed to make a comment. Any comment.

bokohalal:
You are certainly not well placed to make a comment. Any comment.

Because you are not intelligent enough to make a case for why he is qualified? Your response is quite predictable considering the level of education in Nigeria, so you are simply a validation.

Pennsylvania:
Igbo has nothing to do with this. If you can't see the way things has depreciated from bad to worse in this country because of bigotry, then you're one of the problems of this country.

If you were to be honest for once in your life, you should know and agree that we are presently suffering from the years of PDP's bad governance and especially under GEJ. Plus the worldwide economic downturn.

bokohalal:
If you were to be honest for once in your life, you should know and agree that we are presently suffering from the years of PDP's bad governance and especially under GEJ. Plus the worldwide economic downturn.

So GEJ ruled the Whole World.....

This poll is definitely skewed as it was conducted online and we know the iPod spread in Nigerian social media. They're former TANoids so it's no surprise.

justice2016:
[s]i think the approval rating is 20% because nothing is working .Nnamdi Kanu said it that you cant entrust the management of a country to Hausa
-fulani cattle rearer.I think he made sense because post independence these people have been ruling us but see where we re as a nation.[/s]

In utter delusion, you forgot that for 14 of the last 16 years of failed governance, we were ruled by the South.

Jirate:
So GEJ ruled the Whole World.....

Go back to elementary school, ASAP and learn the meaning of PLUS.

bokohalal:
If you were to be honest for once in your life, you should know and agree that we are presently suffering from the years of PDP's bad governance and especially under GEJ. Plus the worldwide economic downturn.

And who are the bulk of people that make up the APC now, where they not from PDP? So in your eyes becos they swapped party they are automatically 'holy'? Admit for once that our leaders have all been a failure instead of swapping blames on party and tribal lines!
you obviously have never been honest in your life.

bokohalal:
Go back to elementary school, ASAP and learn the meaning of PLUS.

I remember your Presido saying he will stabilize the “World Oil Market” before the Election.