As Nigerians geared up for the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections, a survey carried out by Afrobarometer revealed that many do not trust the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.
Eight survey rounds in up to 39 countries have been completed since 1999. Round 9 surveys (2021/2022) are currently underway. Afrobarometer’s national partners conduct face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice.
The Afrobarometer team in Nigeria, led by NOIPolls, interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,600 adult citizens in March 2022. A sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-2.5 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level. Previous surveys were conducted in Nigeria in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2020.
According to the survey, large majorities of survey respondents said that multiple political parties are needed to provide voters with a genuine choice and that once elections are over, the losing side should accept defeat and work with the government to help the nation flourish.
While a majority of citizens believe that the last national election in 2019 was generally free and fair, popular trust in the INEC is declining.
The survey also revealed that most Nigerians (71 per cent of respondents) support elections as the best way to choose their leaders. Also majority believe that Nigeria needs many political parties to ensure that voters have a real choice, a 13-percentage-point rebound from 2020.
More than three-fourths (78 per cent) of respondents say that once an election is over, the losing side should accept defeat and cooperate with the government to help it develop the country, rather than monitoring and criticising it.
A majority (56 per cent) of respondents say the last national election, in 2019, was generally free and fair, but almost four in 10 (38 per cent) believe otherwise.
Only 23 per cent of Nigerians say they trust the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “somewhat” or “a lot,” while more than three-fourths (78 per cent) express “just a little” or no trust at all in the election-management body.
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