CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Election-related turmoil appears to be the most serious obstacle to African democracy's progress. Notably, despite the fact that Africa is home to sovereign nations, not all of the continent's governments are capable of holding genuine elections. The press, as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, has a responsibility to hold leaders publicly accountable for the crises that have arisen as a result of regional elections. Gordon (2016:37) "I often believe that other people are better off if, rather than doing what they want, they followed my advice; yet in a democracy, there isn't much we can do about pushing our opinions upon the masses," he correctly observed. Regrettably, even without assistance of the Election Observation Mission, many African countries have yet to hold particularly successful elections especially in Nigeria. People in several Parts of Africa, for example, are startled when elections are free and fair. The EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) concluded that the 2008 Ghanaian elections were conducted in compliance with global and regional election norms. The presidential and legislative elections were held in a free, fair, and competitive environment, with all parties and candidates having equal opportunities to pursue public support and assistance to win the elections, regardless of political affiliations.

Elections have been at the center of many African countries' democratic ambitions because they have served certain key democratic functions, particularly in promoting democratic engagement. The importance of examining the role of print media in recovering the prestige of elections as a vehicle for a stable democratic government has been highlighted by electoral problems in several African nations, including Nigeria (Akhakpe&Odion-Akhaine, 2016). The media emphasizes interaction with the public for the greater good and in anticipation of providing quality services to them without regard to motivation. When this public good is applied to the election process, it has the potential to result in a peaceful transfer of power and overall polity stability, allowing for long-term development (Iguisi, 2015). Elections in Nigeria are a complicated task that cannot be managed solely by the current administration, as a vibrant press is an integral part of the process, which Easton (2011) describes as a system made up of a mixture of elements such as inputs, outputs, surroundings, conversion process, and required feedback mechanisms in his General Systems Theory. People, democratic institutions, and the media all have a role in a successful election process. The use of a three-tiered approach to democratic elections is becoming more common (Akhakpe & Odion-Akhaine, 2016). The Nigerian State's history has progressed over time. The press, or print media, has been at the forefront of national growth throughout pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial times. From 1999 to 2019, the study looks at the Nigerian Fourth Republic's print media and election system. The time period was chosen because it represents the most recent, longest, and continuous period of civil governance since the country's return to complete democracy (Fatile, Akhakpe, Igbokwe-Ibeto & Oteh, 2012). Conventional print media, also known as the press, was favored over digital media such as radio and television for its distinctive traits of constancy, indefinite sources of exposure, ability to be read multiple times, being much more cognitively engaging, better subdividing of topics for detailed analysis, and ease of content analysis. Despite its widespread adoption and widespread use, much social media content is false, unverifiable, and misleading, causing unqualified authors and commentators to disseminate misinformed and unethical news in violation of Nigeria's media code of conduct (Ajibulu, 2016). The print media is typically required to go through a rigorous gatekeeping and verification process in order to maintain accuracy, news confirmation, unbiased news, and neutrality. These culture contrasts with those of internet journalism or social media, where material can be reported without being verified (Anindya, 2015). Media institutions in democratic countries had evolved journalistic standards for screening and confirming material over time (Fukuyama, 2020). Nigeria has fifty-one (51) newspapers and publications (Nigerian Finder, 2018).

The print media in Nigeria plays a role in determining who is elected to office. This can be accomplished through informing voters about candidates running for office and, most significantly, by covering the Nigerian electoral process in order to ensure free and fair elections. Therefore the study centers on the role of daily times and the punch in 2019 free and fair election

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Scholars, political scientists, and other social scientists have been researching how folks who are not particularly aware about politics might be made more informed about the election process through print media exposure. Citizens must have a high level of political awareness to be considered politically active, but most people’s political awareness seems to be inadequate to fulfill the qualifications of a "responsible and politically active citizen." This is due to propaganda and a lack of transparency in reporting on the 2019 elections. When it comes to national politics, news, and the political process, the masses, in particular, have been found to be unwitting. Previous research into the relationship between print media availability and the voting process has yielded conflicting and explanations. Therefore it is necessary we embark on the study .The study centers on the role of daily times and the punch in 2019 free and fair election

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The major purpose of this study is to examine the role of daily times and the punch in 2019 free and fair election. Other general objectives of the study are:

1) To examine the role of print media in electoral process of Nigeria in 2019

2) To ascertain the challenges of the Conduct of the 2019 General Election

3) To ascertain the prospect of print media in determining free and fair elections in 2019 presidential election

4) To recommend ways of enhancing free and fair elections through the print media

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions shall guide this study and in the course of this research, we shall attempt to find answers to the following questions:

1) What is the role of print media in electoral process of Nigeria in 2019?

2) What are challenges of the Conduct of the 2019 General Election?

3) What are the prospects of print media in determining free and fair elections in 2019 presidential election in Nigeria?

4) What are the ways of enhancing free and fair elections through the print media?

1.5HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

Hypothesis 1

HO: Punch didn’t play a significant role enhancing free and fair elections in 2019

H1: Punch played a significant role enhancing free and fair elections in Nigeria in 2019

Hypothesis 2

HO: There is no significant relationship between the role of daily times and credible election in 2019

H1: There is a significant relationship between the role of daily times and credible election in 2019

1.6SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The importance of this research does not varies from the fact that 90% of adults in Nigeria depend on print media channels for information, while about 60% of information are extracted from newspaper, meanwhile, 95% of broadcasting media including radio and television depends on newspaper headlines for their daily news broadcast. However, if newspaper information favors political ideology and opens to propaganda, then the rest of the media outlet will be dissimilar. Therefore, this research work will deeply emphasized on exposing print media system when it comes to partiality in information dissemination, and also bringing/ raising issues that will awake media system to get rid of nepotism, favoritism, negative propaganda and ideologies.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 

The study would cover the role of daily times and the punch in 2019 free and fair election

1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The researcher was faced with the following constraints in carrying out this study:

Time: The time within the researcher is too short to carry on the detail study on this topic.

Resources: Another constraint of the researcher is financial resources to carry on the detail study of this topic. Data: Another limitation to this study will be lack of data to make valid study on the research problem.

1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

PRINT MEDIA: :Print media is any form of published material which is composed of newspapers, community newsletter, wire services, magazines, journals and other publications that passes specific information’s to readers.

ROLE: A role is a set of connected behaviors, rights, obligations, beliefs, and norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavior and may have a given individual social status or social position

ELECTIONS: An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.  

FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS: A free and fair election involves political freedoms and fair processes leading up to the vote, a fair count of eligible voters who cast a ballot (including such aspects as electoral fraud or voter suppression), and acceptance of election results by all parties