ABSTRACT

The study on newspaper coverage of decampment of APC to PDP by house member of the national Assembly aimed at evaluating the relationship between media coverage and decampment of national assembly members, to determine the effect of decampment of national assembly house member, to determine the factors affecting decampment of national assembly house members. The study made use of primary data which are gotten from the distribution of the research questionnaires; the sample size for the study is 100. The study made use of the Pearson correlation method for the analysis. The study therefore concluded that there is a statistically significantly (0.00) strong relationship (0.819) between the responses of the respondents that said that newspaper coverage is effective in identifying the reason for massive decampment of APC to PDP by house members and those that said that change in political administration is among the major factor affecting people commitment to their various parties. The study also made useful recommendation to assist the federal government in decision making

CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The press is an important institution in every society, and whichever of these or other roles it finds itself performing at any time matters a great deal in the life of a people. One particular news story, or an editorial, or a personal commentary published in a newspaper could serve as a mirror or reflector of an aspect of the social reality, and at the same time contain some ingredients of motivation, and even of conciliation as well, all of which could combine in some way to affect the level of knowledge, attitudes, and actions of people in determining the course of any event.

In normal times when much of life's processes can be substantially observed in their regularized routines, this power and importance of the press continue to exist unhindered. In crisis situations when the routines have been disrupted and when people's nerves and tempers also are likely to have been frayed, leading to a highly charged social atmosphere, the role of the mass media can easily be very decisive in helping to escalate the crisis or to assuage the tempers and bring the crisis under control (Schramm, 2007). Even though the press as a social institution has been around for many centuries, the question as to how the press goes about performing its function of providing information to people continues to be asked with a great deal of interest and anticipation. The question continues to be asked because despite the various constraints, the press usually has the ability to determine what to report, when to report it, how to tailor the information, and where it will be published.

This is concrete evidence of the power of the press. Talking about the power of the press (media), Dennis and Merrill (2009:4) clearly assert that “the media are quite powerful.” In a way, the media tell us what to think about and how to think, which constitute the theoretical issues of agenda setting and framing. One of the healthy activities on democratic development appears to fall within the realm of internal party democracy and adherence to electoral laws. Issues in nomination, selection and election of candidates, executives and flag bearers are core reforming instruments on democratic consolidation and these have raise a lot of concern in most developing democracies. In Nigeria, recognition of candidate for nomination and selection for primary elections are anchored on the strength of the candidate in area of economic power, political power (incumbency), etc, and without any due regard on the integrity and capability of the candidate (Jinadu, 2014). This form of political permutation has created political crises leading to individuals forming their own political party, decampment of parties’ big wigs and in general voters’ apathy in the ongoing democratic process in Nigeria.

The current wave that has created confusion and debate among academicians and voters in general is what different analysts have described as canoe jumping, floor-crossing, party-hopping, high jumping, frog jumping, party switching, decampment, cross-carpeting, crossover, prostitution, etc. This political attitude has eroded the countries democratic pace (www.africapractice.com). In Nigerian polity, most candidates seem to decamp based on primordial interest and egoistic hedonism. Personalities like Ahaji Atiku Abubaka, Mallam Nuru Ribadu, Sen. Bukola Saraki, etc decamped from Peoples’ Democratic Party to other party and made a U-turn directly or indirectly back to PDP and again to another party. This form of political oscillation calls for a lot of explanations and raises a lot of political questions.

Decampment can only be healthy to the political system and democracy when it is built on the choice of ideology and it will be inimical to democratic process if it is the function of primordial and egoistic interest. Right from inception of the Nigerian Fourth Republic 1999, the political system has witnessed a great surge of proliferation of mushroom political parties and decampment saga, and all these displays seem to be associated with the dissatisfaction of some candidates in respect of administration and decision of the party’s executives in area of choosing candidate to represent the party. This dispensation has celebrated over one hundred decampment of members arising from parties’ lack of internal democracy, and selfish desires of members (Dike, 2003).

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Throughout the years, the media have become trustworthy sources of information for individuals around the world. The wide spread of information is as a result of the availability of media. Newspaper is one of the medium used for the spread of information across the globe. One of the current information that newspaper has carried is the decampment of national assembly members from one party to another, and one of the problems of this decampment might be as a result of political party factionalisation and disintegration. Consequently, political party institutionalization has suffered a serious corrosion; party switching has also directly stalled the emergence of a formidable opposition party which is the hallmark of representative democracy. Finally, most of the research has been carried out media coverage but not even a single research has been carried out on newspaper coverage of decampment of APC to PDP by members of the national Assembly.

1.3   AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The main aim of the study is to examine newspaper coverage of decampment of APC to PDP by house member of the national Assembly. Other specific objectives of the study include:

1. to determine the relationship between media coverage and decampment of national assembly members.
2. to determine the effect of decampment of national assembly house member.
3. to determine the factors affecting decampment of national assembly house members.
4. to proffer possible solution to the problems.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS               

1. What is the relationship between media coverage and decampment of national assembly members?
2. What is the effect of decampment of national assembly house member?
3. What is the factors affecting defected national assembly house members?
4. What is the possible solution to the problems?

1.5   STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0:   Newspaper coverage is not effective in identifying the reason for massive decampment of APC to PDP by house members.

H1:      Newspaper coverage is effective in identifying the reason for massive decampment of APC to PDP by house members.

1.6   SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The study on newspaper coverage of decampment of APC to PDP by members of the national Assembly will be of immense benefit to the entire government in the sense that it will enable them tackle the problems of cross-carpeting since it is usually triggered by intra or inter party conflict, the political parties would be re-engineered from mere institutions for acquiring political power to effective institutions that are capable of mediating and reconciling interests and conflicts. Finally the study will contribute to the body of existing literature and knowledge in this field of study and provide a basis for further research.

1.7   SCOPE OF STUDY

The study on newspaper coverage of decampment of APC to PDP is limited to members of the national assembly.

1.8   LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.9   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Newspaper       A printed publication (usually issued daily or weekly) consisting of folded unstapled sheets and containing news, articles, advertisements, and correspondence.

Coverage The extent to which something deals with something else.

Decampment  The act or an instance of escaping, as from confinement or difficulty: break, breakout, escape, escapement, flight, getaway. 

Members A member is a person who belongs to a social group or organization.