Year in office: Only 31.2% of Nigerians approve President Buhari

– President’s approval rating drops by 1% in March according to GAIN poll – Buhari scored low on fuel scarcity, bad economy, power outage 

President Muhammadu Buhari The monthly poll by Governance Advancement Initiative for Nigeria, (GAIN) shows that President Muhammadu Buhari’s popularity falls again. A new poll records that the rating has fallen further from 32.8% in February to 31.2% in March, amid worsening economic crisis and crippling fuel crisis. 

Nigerians blame Buhari for current state of nation  Nigerians rated the president low on his government’s handling of the economy, power and fuel scarcity. According to the latest results, more Nigerians continued to blame Buhari— not ex-president Goodluck Jonathan — for the nation’s economic problems. 

The poll said that the fall in popularity was primarily due to petroleum scarcity, bad economy, power outage, and unfulfilled campaign promises. One of the poll’s coordinators, Malcolm Fabiyi, said: “A crippling fuel scarcity continued to affect individuals and business across the country, and had a concomitant effect on transportation and business costs.” President Buhari scored low on economy, power, and rule of law. Buhari’s rating fell for the second time since GAIN in December commenced monthly tracking of performance of governments at all levels in Nigeria. 

 Earlier the poll found that majority of respondents did not blame the incumbent leader for Nigeria’s economic problems. They blamed his predecessor instead. In January, the president’s approval rating was 63.4%. Meanwhile, the trend dropped significantly in February as Nigeria’s economic crisis bit harder.