Assessment of the Influence of Mass Media on Credible Conduct of 2023 Elections by the Electorate in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

This study examined how the electorate in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria assessed the extent of mass media influence on the credible conduct of 2023 general elections. The study adopted the survey research design and sampled 400 respondents from the 2, 357, 418 voters registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akwa Ibom State for the elections. The objectives of the study included: to find out the extent to which the mass media harped on salient issues of credibility in election conduct during the 2023 elections; to ascertain whether mass media reportage of the election process had built confidence in the electorate to participate in the exercise. This study was anchored on the Agenda Setting Theory and the Framing Theory of Mass Communication. Data analysed showed that the mass media coverage of the 2023 elections in Akwa Ibom State as perceived by the electorate stood at 63.8%. Finding shows that 67.2% of the respondents agreed that the mass media had placed on the front burner the thorny issue of election credibility during the 2023 general elections. The study concluded that the voting behaviour of electorate and the outcome of the 2023 elections did not correlate with mass media reportage of the exercise as perceived by the electorate. It therefore recommended that the electoral umpire and the mass media should undertake aggressive political advertising to raise the consciousness of the electorate beyond pecuniary and primordial sentiments in order to achieve credible conduct of elections in Nigeria.