About five out of every 10 Nigerians surveyed in December approved of President Goodluck Jonathan’s job performance, a five point decline from the previous month, according to the latest governance poll released by NOIPolls.
The poll said the president’s rating fell from 60% to 55%.
The decline was highest in the North-East (23-points decline), followed by North-Central (14-points decline) and North-West (10-points decline).
The result is the 12th 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.
The administration recorded its highest approval rating in September following its successful effort in curtail the spread of Ebola Virus.
However, the rating began a downward plunge in the succeeding months as the nation faced increasing security troubles, mainly in the north east, where extremist group, Boko Haram, continues a deadly campaign.
By December, according to the NOIPolls, three out of every 10 (27 per cent) of Nigerians disapproved of the President’s job performance, while two out of every 10 Nigerians (18 per cent) neither approved nor disapproved.
However, yearly trend analysis showed a 9 point increase (58 per cent) in Nigerians’ positive perception with regards to job performance of the president, in comparison to the 2013 average which stood at 49 per cent.
More details showed that power supply to Nigerian households worsened in December 2014 compared to November as there was a substantial 8-points decrease in the proportion of Nigerians who saw an improvement in power supply, although a comparison of power supply in 2013 and 2014 revealed a slight improvement in power supply in 2014.
Respondents to the poll were asked three specific questions. The first sought to assess the opinion of Nigerians on the performance of President Jonathan over the past one month. Respondents were asked: Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of President Jonathan in the past one month?
An assessment of the President’s performance by geo-political zones indicated that the South-East zone accounted for the largest proportion (83 per cent) of respondents who approved of the President’s job performance.
The highest percentage of neutrality (28 per cent) came from the North-East zone while, the North-West zone accounted for the largest proportion of Nigerians who disapproved of the President’s performance. Furthermore analysis by age group revealed that the President’s approval increased with older respondents as his approval rating was highest amongst Nigerians aged 46 years and above.
Monthly trend analysis of the President’s approval rating revealed that the President’s approval rating declined by 5-points in December 2014 from November 2014; it is also the second time this rating has experienced a drop since the peak observed in September 2014.
Furthermore, the President generally received higher approval ratings in 2014 compared with similar months in 2013.
His highest approval rating for 2014 was recorded at 74% in September 2014 and his lowest at 49% in April 2014; comparatively, his highest in 2013 was recorded at 57% in August 2013 and the lowest at 40% in December 2013. A common trend in the approval rating of the President for both years (2013 and 2014) is a decline in the approval rating of the President towards the end of both years.
