COOU POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS' PERCEPTION OF MR. PETER OBI'S 'OPPOSITION COMMENTS' AT THE WORLD PRESS CONFERENCE AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY

In the dynamic landscape of Nigerian politics, public perception plays a pivotal role in shaping the discourse surrounding key political figures. Press conferences are an avenue of addressing salient issues bothering the economy, social welfare, and political dimension of society. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria, responded to comments and gave a speech at the world press conference held at Abuja after the ruling of the Apex court that declared the All-Progressives Congress (APC) victorious in that election. The LP’s Mr. Peter Obi was heard saying, “We in the Labour Party, and the ‘Obidient’ Movements will remain in the opposition”. The study therefore aimed to investigate the interpretations of Mr. Peter Obi’s world press conference ‘Opposition comments’ by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) Postgraduate students, examine their perception and attitude regarding the comments, and determine the implications of the comments on Nigerian democracy. Anchored on uses and gratifications as well as perception theories, the study employed the focus group discussion method, with the purposive sampling technique to select 72 discussants from six groups from the population of the Postgraduate students of COOU in Igbariam campus. It was found that a greater majority of the discussants interpreted the comments in a reflective and positive light; and that the attitude of the discussants was steadfast in their struggle for the democratic progress and growth of the country. The study recommends that the media should avoid misrepresenting facts about individuals because the frames attached to people’s comments influence audience understanding of the issue. Again, politicians of high value and acute reputation should like Mr. Peter Obi, speak up in times of political turbulence anywhere in the world