Only 2 Out Of 10 Nigerian Adults Belong To Political Parties --Poll

Nigeria has 26 political parties registered by the country's electoral
commission, but its citizens know only a few of them. This is
according to a recent poll that sought to measure the awareness of
Nigerians on registered political parties as well as their membership
in these parties.

The survey conducted by NOI Polls, a leading country-specific polling
services provider, revealed that 87 percent of respondents surveyed
are more aware of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). This is
closely followed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) with 82
percent, while 25 percent of the respondents said they were aware of
the All Progress Grand Alliance (APGA).

Nigerians Do Not know much about political parties

Respondents showed equal awareness for the PDP and major opposition
party, APC, across all geo-political zones in the country at 47
percent. The South-East zone showed the highest awareness for PDP, at
91 percent, while the South-West zone has the largest proportion of
respondents who were aware of the APC, at 89 percent. However, 54
percent of respondents from the South-South zone showed awareness for
APGA.

The PDP had until recently prided itself as the only political party
in Nigeria that cuts across all ethnicity. The defunct Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN), which was popular in the South West; the Congress
for Progressive Change (CPC), popular in the North; the All Nigeria
Peoples Party (ANPP), also popular in the North; and a faction of the
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), popular in the South East and
South South, changed this with a merger in 2013. They formed the All
Progressives Congress (APC), which now matches the PDP in terms of
nationwide awareness.

Only 2 out of 10 adults claim political afiliation

Although, a lot of Nigerians are aware of the main political parties,
they are not actively engaged in the activities of these parties. Just
two out of 10 adults in the country are registered members of various
political parties and have party membership cards. 8 percent are
registered members, but do not have party membership cards. However,
seven out of 10 adult Nigerians confirmed that they are not registered
to any political party. Majority of them are also not keen to join
any.

According to NOI Polls, the reluctance of some Nigerians to join
political parties, may be due to general apathy towards politics,
political parties and their activities, or due to perceptions of a
poor enabling environment for participation of individuals (especially
the female gender) in political activities among other reasons.

The two major political parties in Nigeria, the All Progressives
Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) hold the
largest share of respondents who are registered members of political
parties, at 47 percent.

Most of them hear about political parties on TV and radio

The poll conducted in the week that started on December 8, 2014,
revealed that the traditional media still play a huge role in making
people know about political parties. The TV accounts for 57 percent
and the radio, 50 percent. About 32 percent of Nigerians, mostly aged
18-21 years hear about political parties through 'word of mouth'.

Fourteen parties have presented candidates for Nigeria's presidential
election, which holds on February 14. But representatives of the two
most popular parties in the country, APC and PDP, are the ones widely
known. A huge percentage of Nigerians are aware of both parties and
they are likely going to vote them in the forthcoming election.
--infonaija