Media, Political Parties And Aspirants, Top Factors That Influence Nigerian Voters

A recent poll by NOIPolls Limited has revealed that the three main factors that affect the voting behaviour of Nigerian voters are “Political aspirants” (41%), “Political parties” (21%) and “Traditional media” (TV, radio & Newspapers) (19%).

This was contained in press statement released on Tuesday which also stated that more female respondents are influenced by “political aspirants” (46%) and “Political parties” (23%), while more male respondents are influenced by the “Traditional media” (23%).

Further findings revealed that almost 4 in 10 Nigerians (38%) of Nigerians are willing to accept a gift from a political party or aspirant if offered, and the majority (62%) would like to receive money as a gift. However when asked if the gift would influence their decisions, only 12% admitted a gift would certainly affect their voting decisions. Similarly, the willingness to accept a gift decreased with a progression in age since respondents aged between 18-21 years (65%) are most willing to accept a gift, and are also most likely to be influenced by a gift (43%) in their voting decisions.These were some of the key findings from the recent Countdown to the 2015 Election poll conducted in the week of June 16th 2014.

Brief Background
In Nigeria, there are internal and external factors that affect the voting decisions of citizens which in turn have implications on the overall outcome of elections. These are often the most crucial elements of elections in Nigeria because they are not limited to political parties, aspirants and the obligation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in conducting a free and fair election.
 
NOIPolls conducted its latest Countdown to the 2015 Election poll with a focus on factors that influence voting decisions during elections which could in turn affect the voters’ behaviour and the outcome of elections. The Countdown to the 2015 Election Polls are conducted bi-Monthly by NOIPolls; the first one was conducted in February 2014.

Nigerians Rate Jonathan's Performance 58%

Elegbede Tayo

President Goodluck Jonathan's job performance for the month of May has been rated 58 % by some Nigerian adults through a poll conducted by NOIPolls. 

Latest governance poll results released by NOIPolls for the month of May 2014 revealed that 58% of adult Nigerians approve of the job performance of the President over the past month; indicating a 9-point increase in his approval rating from April 2014 which stood at 49%. 

This rating represents the second highest in the 17-month period that NOIPolls has been conducting its monthly governance poll from January 2013.  The increase in the President’s approval rating was mainly as a result of the substantial increase observed in those that approve of the President’s performance in the South-East, South-South and South-West zones.

The President has maintained an average ranking in his performance on Economy, Education, Health, Agriculture & Food Security, Transportation and Foreign Policy; Diplomacy, while his performance on Job Creation, Power and Security remains very poor. Furthermore, in May 2014 more Nigerians (42%) experienced an overall improvement in power supply over the past one month as against 29% in April. The largest proportion of respondents who saw an improvement in their power supply were situated in the South-East and South-South zones; a marked 23-point and 20-point increase respectively, which also accounted for the highest positive rating for the President. Findings from the poll also indicate that though there has been an improvement in power supply for the month of May, Nigerians are still not satisfied with the quantity of power supply to their households. These are some of the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in week of May 26th 2014.

These results represent the fifth in the 2014 monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding the approval rating of the President, the performance of the President on key elements of his transformation agenda, and the state of power supply in the country.

Respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions. The first question sought to assess the opinion of Nigerians on the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan over the past 1 month. Respondents were asked: Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of President Jonathan in the past 1 month? The results depicts that the majority (58%: 46%+12%) of Nigerians approve of the president’s performance; where 46% approve and 12% strongly approve of the President’s performance. A total of 26% (21%+5%) of respondents indicated disapproval of the president’s performance while 16% remain neutral as they neither approve nor disapprove.

Examining the President’s performance by geo-political zones reveals that the South-East zone (90%: 26%+64%) has the highest proportion of respondents who approve of the President’s job performance. The North-West zone accounts for the largest ratio of respondents that were neutral and disapprove of the president’s job performance with 27% and 38% respectively.

It is pertinent to note that there was a considerable 21-points; 16-point and 12-point increase in the proportion of Nigerians from the South-East, South-South and South-West zones respectively who approve of the President’s performance in May from April. Similarly, there was a substantial 14-point decrease in the proportion of Nigerians from the North-West zone who disapprove of the president’s performance from April (52%) to May (38%).