Buhari’s popularity sinks further – Survey

The March survey by Governance Advancement Initiative for Nigeria has revealed President Muhammadu Buhari sliding down the approval scale quickly because of worsening economy, energy crisis, broken promises, and the anti-corruption fight.

From 63.4 percent in January, Buhari’s rating by Nigerians dropped to 32.8 percent in February and 31.2 percent in March, according to GAIN.

However, among his ministers, Audu Ogbeh, of agriculture and rural development, was voted the best=performing for March. He took over from Petroleum Minister Ibe Kachiukwu who was top in February.

That is the second time in two months the APC government would fall in Nigerians’ esteem since December when the pollster began its monthly rating.

According to the poll, Nigerians initially were favourably disposed to Buhari’s government as they blamed his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan for the social and economic problems confronting the nation.

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But, in voters’ perception, the circumstances have worsened, and the president has yet to find his bearing in managing the economy, power failure, fuel crisis.

“A crippling fuel scarcity continued to affect individuals and business across the country, and had a concomitant effect on transportation and business costs,” said Prof. Malcolm Fabiyi, one of GAIN’s handlers.

Nigerians are also disappointed by slow pace of prosecution and lack of convictions in the anti-graft war. Concerns have also mounted about the president’s abuse of the rule of law.

The coordinators said the survey was carried out electronically, gathering 876 complete responses with 95 percent confidence level and 4 percent error margin.