57% Nigerians say political campaigns not addressing current issues – Polls

As the 2015 elections loom, political campaigns are not focusing on the country, according to a recent public perception poll conducted by NOIPolls.

In a bid to gauge public perception regarding the general elections in 2015, NOIPolls, an Abuja based research firm, conducted a poll to assess the opinion of the public towards the elections.

The results from the polls showed that 57 percent of Nigerian adults believed political campaigns by politicians do not address present issues.

Most residents in the South-West (66%), and North-East (62%) zones revealed that recent political campaigns have failed to focus on current issues in Nigeria.

Despite Nigeria’s democracy dating back to

1999, elections in the country are still marred by violence and restiveness.

Eighty-three percent of adults however remain optimistic about voting in the 2015 general elections.

On issues that need to be addressed by political aspirants as the 2015 elections approach, 48 percent of adults indicated that focus should be placed on security, 13 percent believe campaigns should focus on jobs, eight percent on electricity, and eight percent on education.

Residents of the North-East (70 percent of them) and North-West (62 percent) regions want politicians to address security challenges. The proportion of northern residents who consider this as a priority was larger than in the south.

A larger proportion of southern residents considered job creation to be the issue politicians need to address in their campaigns.

On national pressing issues, 67 percent of Nigerians considered education to be the most pressing issue.

Eighty-two percent of north-east, and 81 percent of north-west respondents pointed to education as the most pressing issue.

This is followed by electricity (39 percent of Nigerians), infrastructure (38 percent), water (34 percent) and health (26 percent) among others.

Most respondents, 64 percent, indicated that addressing these pressing issues in political campaigns would influence their voting decision. However 13% mentioned it would not influence their decision at all.

“Afenifere – a foremost pan-Yoruba socio-political group, mentioned that the level of desperation amongst politicians is an indication that the 2015 general elections may present a war situation, and not an exercise for Nigerians to elect leaders of choice”, said the report.

Businessday