The media is adjudged to play a plethora of roles in a given society in which it operates. One of such roles is information dissemination and education of the populace on all facets of human life, not excluding their political life. Many studies have been carried out to justify the claim that the media wields overriding powers as agenda-setters for the citizenry with an attendant impact on their political philosophy and action. In the Nigerian context, the continued functioning of our emerging democracy is hinged on the pervasiveness of the media. This larger than life influence of the media has endeared political actors and players who court and woo her as a bride to realise their political ambitions. This study examines the role of the media in the Nigerian electoral system. It is anchored on the Agenda Setting Theory (AST). The historical-analytical method is harnessed to trace the ascendency of the media to its current state of relevance in relation to its pivotal duties in entrenching democracy and a credible electoral process. This work canvasses that the primary role of the media institution as the fourth estate of the realm should not be during elections alone, but be a continuous obligation.
1.1 Introduction
In this section, the Media and Elections in Nigeria is discussed, with relevant and recent citations. As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the aim and objectives of the study. Others are significance of the study, scope of work, research hypothesis and questions, limitation of the study and definition of terms.