Economic hardship, insecurity emerge dominant concerns across all regions
As Nigeria marks Democracy Day today, a new nationwide voter sentiment survey suggests that public confidence in the country’s direction has fallen sharply, with nearly eight in 10 Nigerians saying the country is headed in the wrong direction and a majority already looking beyond the current administration toward the 2027 elections.
The findings, contained in SBM Intelligence’s first Voter Sentiment Tracker (VST) as seen by BusinessDay, paint a picture of a restless electorate grappling with economic hardship, insecurity, and declining confidence in governance.
The survey of nearly 1,000 respondents across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones found that President Bola Tinubu’s administration may be facing deep public discontent, while former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi currently enjoys the strongest favourability ratings.
According to the report, 80 percent of respondents believe Nigeria is moving in the wrong direction, resulting in a net favourability rating of -58.5 for President Tinubu, the lowest among the leading political figures assessed. Obi, by contrast, posted a net favourability score of +58.3, making him the only major candidate with a positive rating.
