Media Framing of the Legitimacy of Nigerian Elections in Relation to Stomach Infrastructure

Abstract: The thesis aims to explore the media framing of Nigeria’s 2023 election in relation to votebuying: How did the Nigerian print media portray the legitimacy of the 2023 election in relation to vote-buying? In addressing the research question, Entman’s (1993) framing theory is used. For identifying the themes and patterns around the framing of the election Entman’s four questions, defining the problems, diagnosing causes, making moral judgments, and treatment recommendations, in connection with the existing literature on vote buying are employed. The thesis is a single-case study adopting a qualitative content analysis for analyzing 26 articles from Daily Post, Nigerian Tribune, Premium Times, PUNCH, The Cable, The Guardian, This Day, and Vanguard. The results indicated that the media, with the exception of two media outlets, overwhelmingly framed vote-buying as an illegitimate fraudulent electoral practicecaused by poverty and hunger. It is framed as detrimental to democratic governance and the media suggested predominantly enforcement measures such as election monitoring and criminal prosecution as possible remedies