NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF ISSUE-BASED POLITICAL STATEMENTS AND CAMPAIGNS IN NIGERIA’S ELECTORAL PROCESS (NOVEMBER 2018 – FEBRUARY 2019)

Thee electoral process in Nigeria is now more dynamic than in earlier years because of the nature of competitions among politicians. In a bid to sell candidates and woo voters, political parties engage in election campaigns during which statements are made. Campaigns ought to address issues of public importance, but in some instances the comments are mere expressions of personal sentiments. Thee press is not just the fourth estate of the realm but also the voice of the people to report issues for voters’ enlightenment. Theis paper examined newspaper coverage of issue-based political statements and campaigns in Nigeria’s 2019 electoral process. Two theoretical frameworks for the study were Agenda Setteing Theeory and Development Media Theeory. Thee study was both quantitative and qualitative, covering newspaper reports from two national dailies, Vanguard and Thee Punch. A total of 76 editions were studied using the content analysis research design, with quoted statements butteressing the argument. Thee data were presented with frequency tables and analysed through simple percentages. Theere were 116 reports on the subject in the dailies. Thee paper found out that while there were coverage over some national issues like restructuring, security, corruption, economy, and electricity, the greater volume of political statements were not issue-based. Theere is the need for the press to pay less atteention on matteers that would not serve to educate voters adequately. Thee study recommends that the press use the editorials to canvass for issue-based comments. Thee study also contributed to knowledge as the seminal analysis of political statements in 2019 general elections.

Electioneering campaigns are expected to be issue-based because through it the electorate makes decisions. Some have argued that the atmosphere of the last election was explosive . Thee campaigns was officcially declared open by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on November 18, 2019, but prior to that date, there had been effeorts and statements to woo voters through rallies and other forums. It was declared by the electoral umpire that both parties and candidates should conduct themselves in organised, peaceful, rancor-free, hate and/or infliammatory speeches-free way .
But, rather than address burning issues in the country and sell opinions on how to betteer the country, politicians and their parties were ofteen seen speaking of non-issue-based matteers. Chief among the parties and politicians were the presidential candidates of the leading All Progressive Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari and the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Thee candidates' campaign organs were found expressing venoms against each other through name calling, allegations, insults, etc. .
One of the forms of statements made during political campaigns is hate speech. Hate can be referred to as the use of discriminatory sobriquet to malign, stigmatise or abuse someone or people on the grounds of origin, socio-economics, religion, association etc. through verbal expression, demonstrative actions, writteen content that would cause others to engage in negative atteitude towards the object . Because of one's background, orientation or intention, hate can be demonstrated towards such and whenever there is a denigrating communication in that wise,  believes that there is hate speech. Thee effeect of every hate speech is disaffeection towards the person or group referred to. And it is the belief of  that necessary steps need to be taken to discourage hate speech because besides its direct effeects on the 'hated', the populace are likely to suffeer from denial of freedom of expression through it.
Sometimes, the statements made by politicians may not even be hate speech but could be claims on things they would not fulficll. Theey ofteen look at the pressing needs of the people and make promises that cannot not be kept. One of such borders on gender equality in governance. It is believed that women are not well represented in the political space and the present call is even for quota participation Olatunde, 2010;Audu, 2008). It is therefore usual to hear statements reassuring the female voting strength.  believe that atteention should be sincerely accorded to women in the polity.
While there are several institutions in the society that wields much infliuence, the role of the press in determining what takes place in the country cannot be overemphasised. It can mould the form of political issues and actors through the nature of its communication to the audience. Here is the critical role of agenda setteing the press stands to play (Davaney, 2013). Thee reason for such an understanding is not farfetched. People could perceive individuals, institutions or government in the direction the press portrays it.  puts it this way: "Thee representation of social actors could indicate in what way particular parties, camps, or individuals are portrayed in discourse" (p. 56). Thee press stand as the voice of the masses and what they publish has a lot of impact. In many instances, media could decide to focus atteention on certain issues such that it becomes a national subject. Theey could also silence an aspect of development that they do not ficnd worthy of public knowledge. Theis is why  espouses the understanding of the press having the power to conceal facts or reveal secrets.

STUDY OBJECTIVES
Thee aim of this paper was to ascertain newspaper coverage of issuebased political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics from November 2018 to February 2019. Thee specificc objectives were to: 1. Find out the frequency of stories on issue-based political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics in the dailies; 2. Identify the types of reports on issue-based political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics in the newspapers; 3. Ascertain the diffeerent kinds of political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics in newspapers; 4. Find out the placement of stories on issue-based political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics in the newspapers; and 5. Ascertain the directionality of newspaper reports on issue-based political statement and campaigns in Nigeria's politics.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. How frequent were stories on issue-based political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics in the dailies? 2. What are the types of reports on issue-based political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics in the newspapers? 3. What are the diffeerent kinds of political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics in newspapers? 4. How were the stories on issue-based political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics placed in the newspapers? 5. What is the directionality of newspaper reports on issue-based political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's politics?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
It is a common belief in the communication world that the press can actually construct news to form a worldview for the audience (Wahl-Jorgensen & Hanitzch, 2009). Theis is due to the place of the media in setteing agenda for the audience. Thee agenda setteing theory, being one of the most popular frameworks in media studies, originated from the ideas of Walter Lippman's Public Opinion of 1922; theorised by Bernard Cohen in 1963 and crystalised by Maxwell McCombs andDonald Shaw in 1972 (Mc-Quiail, 2010;Baran & Davies, 2009). Thee understanding is that what the media presents to the public is ofteen taken as issues that worth atteention and becomes the audience agenda at the long run.
On the other hand, Development Media Theeory was propounded by Dennis McQuiail in 1987 to espouse the place of the press in societies. It is an extension of the earlier forms of the Normative Theeories to include the roles that developing nations' media have to play to bring about the needed positive change in the society . It is believed that the press owe the country a statutory responsibility to carry out development activities that are in tandem with the laws and policies established in the land. Theus, the media have freedom and responsibilities not only to inform, but to inform properly; not just to educate, but to educate effeectively; not just to entertain, but to entertain intelligently. It thus deals with press behaviour.
Theese theories are cogent because the agenda setteing theory draws atteention to the press' role of bringing important issues to public discussion while the development media theory demands responsible journalism from the media.

ISSUES IN NIGERIA AND ELECTION CAMPAIGNS
Election takes place in a politically charged atmosphere where citizens prepare themselves to perform their constitutional roles by voting . Political parties have been described as indispensable means for representative democracies (Pippa, 2005), bearing in mind that the democratic system is made up of the agencies like political parties which make democracy feasible as the loop for governance (IDEA, 2017). And in many countries, a multiparty system is adopted in which more than two political parties contest in elections. It is therefore necessary to strengthen political parties in every society . Given that democracy is a ground order of political legitimacy in the society, politicians make every atteempt to sway voters  during electioneering campaigns. Theus, statements made are ofteen aimed at galvanising support.
Thee 2019 general elections in Nigeria witnessed another round of political campaigns which availed politicians the opportunity to inform the electorates what they would do if voted into power. Unlike the 2015 general elections when there were only 14 presidential candidates, the last election had 73 of them vying for the exalted seat. But the contest was basically between APC and PDP. Among the issues that faced the nation and demanded for atteention were those of security, anti-corruption ficght, economy, unemployment, electricity, job creation, and restructuring. It is believed that the ability to address these could infliuence voting .

THE PRESS AND REPORTAGE OF POLITICAL STATEMENTS
Theere is an enormous role that is expected of the press in the democratic process of Nigeria. Iredia (2007) puts it this way: "Thee people must be assisted to premise their choices of rationality and vote wisely during elections. Theey must have all information that is needed to elect the right candidates who can ensure good governance". He also added, "Where such public awareness is lacking, those of us in the media must accept a share of the blame of failed elections in Nigeria" (p. 12). It is therefore important that the press do not just pass information to the public as much as it evolves, but that they go further in analysing the reports for readers' appreciation as well as focusing on relevant issues.
Thee objective of reporting political statements and campaigns is to enable voters who rely on the press to become very much acquainted with the candidates and parties in order to make informed decisions at the poll for good governance (Dimitrova, Sheheta, Stromback & Nord, 2014;. Thee understanding of many scholars and analysts today is that it is unthinkable to hold elections in contemporary times without the contribution of the media (Ace Project, 2012; Ibrahim, Ogwezzy-Ndesikka & Tejumaiye, 2015).
In their study,  found out that there was bias in newspaper reportage of political parties and candidates in the 2011 elections. While a particular party, the ruling party was projected positively, the main opposition was presented negatively as other contending parties were accorded least atteention. Again,  found out that female politicians receive less atteention in Nigerian newspaper reportage compared to male folk who had more coverage and prominence in the publications. In a study championed by Busi-nessDay Media and NOIPolls in November 2014, it was found out that: More than half (57%) of the Nigerian adult population believe political campaigns are not focusing on current issues in the country; this perception cuts across all regions, although residents of North-West zone maintained a diffeerent perspective as the majority in this region believe the campaigns of politicians are focused on addressing the present issues. In line with this, a significcant proportion (48%) of Nigerians stated politicians should focus on addressing security in their campaigns to make meaningful impact. Theis stance was mostly maintained by residents of the North-East (70%) and North-West (62%) given the current state of insecurity in these regions. Job Creation and Education were also considered as priority for focus among other areas…A view of the pressing issues in Nigeria demonstrates Education (67%) as the most pressing national issue that needs to be tackled, followed by Electricity (39%), Infrastructure (38%), and Water (34%), among others; even though Nigerians believe current campaigns should focus on security (NOI Polls, 2015).
Thee implications of the above are that while the press could be biased, previous electioneering processes witnessed much of non-issuebased statements because the campaigns where not development focused. Thee 2019 election presents another opportunity to evaluate the experience by understanding what was portrayed in the newspapers.

METHODOLOGY
Theis study was conducted through the content analysis research method because it focused on press coverage of political statements made towards the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. Theis method is recommended for media contents . Thee study population is comprised of all national dailies from which Vanguard and Punch were sampled. Both dailies have national circulation and credibility. Thee study covered three months: November 2018, January and February 2019. Theese months marked the officcial launching of the political campaign and its closing. Thee study designed a code sheet and a code guide for data gathering in which it had the unit of analysis as story type, issue-based, non-issue-based, placement, frequency, and directionality. Thee content categories included security, economy, job creation, infrastructure, education, water supply, electricity, health, restructuring, agriculture, road/transport, anticorruption, industrialization, and 'others' as issue-based indicators whereas name-calling, allegations, and partisanship formed the non-issue-based indicators. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, were adopted to form a composite week. Theere were a total 76 publications from both dailies within the period of the study. In the presentation and analysis of data, the study employed tables and simple percentages for clarity.       Table 3 illustrates that some issues were not reported in the headlines of the newspapers within the period under review. Among such were infrastructure, water supply, electricity, agriculture, anti-corruption, and industrialization. And these are among the issue-based campaign subjects the electorates expects to hear which sums up to 41.3%. But the nonissue-based subjects like name-calling (16.4%), allegations (21.5%) and partisanship (20.7%) took more of the statements, which together made up 58.6% of the entire reports. Theis implies that more of the statements during the political campaign were not issue-based.     Table 5 highlights that most of the reports were neutral in the presentation, given the 78.4%. Theis implies that the stories reported political statements with less supportive or unsupportive approach.

SOME POLITICAL STATEMENTS ON ISSUES IN THE DAILIES
Thee data presented in above in Table 3 reveals that few of the statements were on issue-based subjects whereas more of the speeches were on non-issue-base. Some of the issue-based statements are as follows:

Economy & Transportation
Atiku will reduce fuel price, say PDP Thee Peoples' Democratic Party has said its presidential candidate has worked out a pricing template that will immediately crash the pump price of fuel in the country. By Olusola Fabiyi, Punch, November 2, 2018, p. 10 Atiku promises to revive Warri Seaport, complete Second Niger Bridge Thee presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku, has promised to revive the Warri Seaport in Delta State. By Ochei Mattehew, Punch February 1, 2019, p.7

Infrastructure & Health
Sanwo-Olu 'll not abandon ongoing projects, says Ambode "I am so excited about the fact that Mr. Sanwo-Olu has actually come out here and he has issued a promissory note and what that means is that we are going to have a government of continuity" (Akinwunmi Ambode). By Oladimeji Ramon, Punch, November 23, 2018, p. 6 Imo Guber: Ohakim promises to reduce mortality rate by 60% Thee Imo state governorship candidate of the Accord Party, Ikedi Ohakim, yesterday promised to implement a policy he said would reduce the mortality rate in the state by 60 per cent. By Chinonso Alozie, Vangaurd, January 9, 2019, p. 15 Thee above excerpts are some of the political statements made during the 2019 general elections campaign period. Theese were part of the issuebased speeches by the candidates and their parties. It is expected that campaigns should serve as platforms for aspirants to inform the electorates on what they would do if given the opportunity. Besides some of the accounts of issue-based statements by politicians reported in the dailies, there were more non-issue-based statements, as indicated in the data. Some of such include: Name-Calling Okorocha, Yari, Amosun, suffeering change trauma, Oshiomhole National chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said that the three govs opposed to his conduct of party primaries in their states were behaving like drug addicts suffeering from 'withdrawal symptoms '. By Omeiza Ajayi, Vanguard, November 2, 2018, pp. 1 & 41 Buhari no match for Atiku, PDP -Atiku's leading gang of mercantile politicians, APC responds Ahead of the 2019 presidential election, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to a live, one-onone debate with its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on critical sectors of the nation's economy. By Dirisu Yakubu & Omeiza Ajayi, Vanguard, November 26, 2018, p. 8 Tinubu attacks Atiku, says ex-VP not fiot for president Thee national leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, has said former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar does not deserve another shot at power because he blew his opportunity during his eight years reign under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. By Oladimeji Ramon, Punch, January 9, 2019, p. 40 Allegations Presidential poll: Atiku's integrity questionable -Tinubu National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, said unlike President Muhammadu Buhari, the integrity of presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar is questionable. "Leave a naira on the table with Buhari in the room, you will ficnd the naira on the table when you return…With Atiku, things are more nuanced…His compass has four models pointing in diffeerent directions at the same time" (Tinubu). By Dapo Akirefon, Vanguard, January 9, 2019, p. 11 Buhari using govt funds for campaign, says Atiku Thee presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has that President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress, is using government funds for his presidential campaign. By Success Nwogu, Punch, January 11, 2019, p. 7 Buhari, APC can't be trusted, says Atiku at Lagos rally Thee presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the Al Progressive Congress, can no longer be trusted because they have not kept any of the promises they made to Nigerians while soliciting their votes four years ago. By Femi Makinde, Punch, February 13, 2019, p. 7 In the above statements, it is clear that the issues raised against the individuals mentioned are nothing but personal sentiments rather than topical issues of public interest. By describing Okorocha, Yari and Amosun as suffeering from "withdrawal symptoms", the speaker is invariably saying that they are mentally weak and short of right thinking mind. On the second statement, the intention is to tag the candidate and his party as commercially minded persons who only want to exploit the people. And in the last statement, the speaker wants the electorate not to even mention the name because the person is not qualificed to start with. All these expressions were geared to discrediting the individuals. Thee allegations on integrity, misuse of public fund and lack of trust are also geared towards smearing the personalities. Thee partisanship depict how atteached the individuals are such that it is only what concerns them that matteers.

Frequency of Reports on Political Statements and Campaigns
From the ficndings in Table 1, it was discovered that more political statements were made before the date of the election as the newspapers recorded decline in reportage on the issue, close to the election. Theat is, while the dailies reported much of political statements within the period, the number of reports dropped from 37.06% to 26.7% by the last month of the campaign. Corroborating this qualitative data were the statements cited above, which also indicated that more non-issue-based speeches were utteered at the earlier part of the campaign period. Theis indicates that the press follow issues and political actors as they move such that when they raise their voices, the media highlights such and when they keep silent, the same is refliected in the reports.  found out that the press do accord atteention to political actors in their reportage. Theis ficnding supports the Agenda Setteing theory that the press set the tone for discussion of issues.

Story Types on Political Statements and Campaigns
Among the types of stories, the ficndings show that almost all the reports came as straight news (99.1%), which meant that it was the statements made by the politicians that formed a good part of the newspaper reports. Theis brings out the principle of salience in the agenda theory of the media. Thee newspapers were able to emphasise that stories about statements made by politicians during the period were newsworthy and should be emphasized.

Kinds of Political Statements in Campaigns
Thee study had two major classes of indicators on the kinds of statements. It was found out that there were less of issue-based statements given that the sum of such is 41.3% compared to the non-issue-based statements that totaled 58.6%. It is then clear what was observed during the 2019 electioneering campaign were statements devoid of developmental plans but full of personal sentiments. Besides the cited statements above on name-calling, allegations and partisanship, there were others like "Stop donating like Father Christmas, atteend to Nigerians, Atiku tells Buhari (Punch newspaper, 2018, Nov. 5, p. 53); "Buhari is too weak to lead Nigeria, says PDP" (Punch newspaper, Jan. 23, 2019, p. 3); and "I won't disappoint you like APC, Atiku" (Vanguard newspaper, Feb. 13, p. 10). Theis ficndings aligns with NOI Polls (2015) in which it was found out that about 57% of adult Nigerians believe that political campaigns do not address important issues in the country. Thee development media theory underlines that the press should highlight development issues in the society. Theis means that more of the reports in the dailies should be on statements that are issue-based in subsequent periods. Thee projection of candidates who make issue-based statements could infliuence voting.

Placement of Stories on Issue-based Political Statements
Thee ficndings from the study show that the reports on the political statements appeared on the front (37.9%) and inside pages (62.1) only. Basically, the back page of newspapers are given to sports and special features such that it does not take regular news stories. But the prominence is predicated on fact that the reports made the cover pages and in most cases, the banner headlines. Stories like "Okorocha, Amosun atteack Oshiomhole afresh -his leadership has cost APC 5 million members, says Imo gov -we'll resist any bid to hand Ogun over to a rapacious cabal -Ogun gov" (Vanguard newspaper, 2018, Nov. 2, p. 1) and "Elections: Obasanjo bombs Buhari again -says he's planning to rig polls, behaving like Abacha" (Vanguard newspaper, 2019, Jan. 21, p. 1) are among the numerous that appeared on the cover page. Theis ficnding demonstrates the agenda setteing theory that the emphasis media places on certain issues based on placement or coverage could infliuence the importance the audience atteach to such .

CONCLUSION
Because Nigeria's electoral process is now more dynamic than in earlier years with the nature of competitions among political parties, politicians explore ways to woo voters during election campaigns. In the course of this, political statements are ofteen made at diffeerent forums and platforms. Thee expectation is that campaigns should address issues that affeect the country, but in some instances the comments are directed at personal affeairs and matteers of less public interest. Thee press exists to report issues for voters' enlightenment. Theis paper examined newspaper coverage of issue-based political statements and campaigns in Nigeria's electoral process. Thee paper found out that while there were coverage over some national issues like restructuring, security, corruption, economy, unemployment, and electricity, the greater volume of reports of political statements in newspapers were not issue-based. Theere is the need for the press to pay less atteention to matteers that would not serve to educate voters appropriately.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Drawing from the ficndings put forward, the study therefore recommends that: 1. Given that during the electioneering period much atteention was accorded to political statements, there is the need for the press to balance issues of national interest along with current developments in order not to silence other matteers of public interest. 2. Literate Nigerians need to react to political statements through articles, letteers, etc. for dailies because these were almost non-existing on the issue within the period. 3. Nigerians need to ask politicians questions based on issues of national or public importance as a means of reducing non-issuebased statements. In the same vein, the press use the editorials to speak against non-issue-based campaigns. 4. Thee press need to highlight more of issue-based political statements on the cover page rather than those that would create panic and disaffeection.

CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE
Academically, this paper is a seminal effeort, that is, ficrst atteempt to analyse the political statements made by politicians in the most recent general elections held in Nigeria. In practice, it gives the public a picture of the kind of statements made by leaders during the 2019 electioneering campaign, which would aid future development initiatives.