By Clifford Ndujihe
LAGOS — AHEAD of his expected declaration to contest the 2011 presidential polls this week, a survey conducted by the NOI Polls indicated that most Nigerians want President Goodluck Jonathan to run.

According to an August 2010 Snap Poll conducted by NOI Polls, 81 per cent of Nigerians support Jonathan running for the presidency and 73 per cent is happy with the changes at the INEC .

According to the survey conducted by NOI Polls, the highest proportion of respondents who think that Jonathan should run for President was from the South-East  (89 per cent) and lowest proportion was from the North-West (62 per cent).

The results of this poll support the findings of a previous poll conducted by NOI Polls in April 2010 which found that Nigerians were largely unsupportive of the application of a zoning formula in selecting presidential candidates.

To the question ‘Do you think/agree that there should be a zoning  formula for the emergence of Presidential candidates in  Nigeria?’, more than six in 10 (63 per cent) respondents answered: ‘No’ and 33 per cent responded in the affirmative while four per cent either didn’t know or refused to answer the question.

On the recent change of guards at the INEC and the appointment of Prof. Attahiru Jega as chairman, 80 per cent of Nigerians said they were aware of Jega’s appointment as INEC chairman.

In addition, his appointment has boosted most respondents’ confidence in INEC’s capacity to conduct credible elections, with 73 per cent responding ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Does the change in leadership make you more confident or less confident in INEC’s ability to conduct free and fair elections?’

On readiness to vote at the elections, the survey said that  87% of respondents said ‘Yes’ with only nine per cent responding ‘No’ to the question.