Poll: Buhari’s Approval Rating Drops to 41% in May

Obinna Chima
A survey conducted by NOI Polls has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval rating, which gauges public support for the president, has been on a downward spiral, dropping from as high as 80 per cent in October 2015, to 41 per cent this month, three years after he was sworn-in as Nigeria’s president.

According to the latest survey obtained yesterday from the polling service company, respondents also scored Buhari low in top 10 sectoral indicators surveyed.

On the president’s approval rating, in June 2015, it stood at 70 per cent and climbed to as high as 80 per cent in October 2015, which remained the highest approval rating since Buhari assumed office.

It, however, dropped to 63 per cent in December 2015, before climbing again to 70 per cent in January 2016.
However, in June 2016, the month the president travelled to the United Kingdom to treat an ear infection, his approval rating dropped to 39 per cent, before falling further to 37 per cent in August in the same year.

According to the poll, Buhari’s approval rating remained below 55 per cent until June 2017 when it climbed to 67 per cent, possibly due to the sympathy that trailed his three months stay in London for treatment for an undisclosed illness.
Between August 2017 and May 2018, the highest approval rating the president achieved was the 51 per cent that he got in November last year.

The sectoral scorecard also showed that the performance rating of the president in the 10 top indicators over the last three years, using the cumulative average, was low in all the sectors.

For instance, he was given a performance rating of 43 per cent in security in the last three years, an area where he used to get high public support. Similarly, NOI Poll survey showed that Buhari scored 32 per cent in the fight against corruption,  reflecting the drop in confidence in his anti-corruption war.

In agriculture and food security, he got 34 per cent, just as in power, the president scored 27 per cent, in healthcare, 25 per cent, and infrastructure, 21 per cent.
In the area of education, the president’s performance rating was put at 24 per cent, on the economy – 16 per cent, job creation – 15 per cent, and poverty alleviation – 12 per cent.