2011 Nigeria National Elections
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appear to have changed slightly, with the country about equally split (46 percent / 45 percent) on
whether zoning is now "dead"—prior to the elections, a 60-percent majority of Nigerians felt that
the practice of zoning was good for Nigeria. Overall, Nigerians' impressions of the winning
candidates appear favorable (64 percent viewed them as more concerned about the people than their
predecessors), albeit with very high expectations that the newly elected officials will be less
corrupt—a 52 percent majority believes that corruption would decrease under the newly elected
government. The PDP remains the most popular party (40 percent said they would vote for them
again) although the poll also revealed a sizable level of support for two main opposition parties, the
ACN (24 percent) and the CPC (16 percent), which have since merged together to form All Nigeria.
With respect to candidates, honesty and integrity remained—by far—the most important factor
weighed by voters when deciding who to vote for, while ethnicity, religion, and political party
affiliation appeared to be the factors of least concern.
Lastly, looking at governance, IRI's post-election survey found that violence, insecurity and
terrorism, as well as unemployment, have risen as issues of importance for Nigerians since the
elections. In fact, when asked about the most important issue or problem facing Nigerians at the
local or community level, the number of respondents who cited violence and terrorism rose from
less than two percent (before the elections) to 16 percent after the elections, putting it on par with
poor economy as the top two local issues. This change in attitude suggests that the strongest
negative perception of the 2011 elections, in the mind of many Nigerians, was not corruption or lack
of credible elections, but the post-election violence that occurred—and continues to occur—
between different religious and ethnic groups.
