Nigeria’s PDP, Opposition Parties Tied for Support in Survey
Nigeria’s ruling party and its main opposition challenger are tied at 42
percent of support among likely voters next month, in what could be the
nation’s closest presidential election, according to a survey by
Afrobarometer.
“Support for the opposition is at the highest level recorded since
Afrobarometer surveys began in Nigeria in 2000, and the challengers are
set to make their strongest showing since the restoration of multi-party
elections in 1990,” the research group said on Tuesday in a statement.
The outcome “is too close to call,” according to Afrobarometer.
President Goodluck Jonathan, of the People’s Democratic Party which has
been in power in Africa’s biggest oil producer since 1999, will stand
against All Progressives Congress candidate Muhammadu Buhari in an
election set for Feb. 14.
Jonathan’s approval rating was at 40 percent in 2014, down from 49
percent in 2012, with 59 percent of respondents saying they disapprove
or strongly disapprove of his performance over the past 12 months. The
survey of 2,400 adult Nigerians conducted in December also found 74
percent of people believed the country is heading in the wrong
direction, up from 70 percent in 2012. The poll had a margin of error of
plus or minus two percentage points.
Presidential candidates will need at least 50 percent of the vote, as
well as more than a quarter of ballots cast in two-thirds of the
country’s states, to avoid a run-off.
Jonathan’s government is struggling to deal with an increasingly
powerful Islamist Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, and the
falling price of oil, which brings in about 70 percent of government
income.
Afrobarometer is funded by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, among others.
Nigeria’s PDP, APC Parties Tied for Support in Survey
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Oleh
healthandwealth
