Politicians turn to social media for votes, as govt considers controls

Nigerian politicians are increasingly turning to social media in a bid to sway voters in their favour in the forthcoming elections.

This follows the growing influence of the platform on account of its spiralling subscriber numbers, immediacy and interactive outlook.

The positive impact of the strategic deployment of social media in elections around the world, particularly in the United States, is giving the medium added appeal among Nigerian politicians and their managers.

Consequently, campaigns are swiftly shifting online. Meanwhile, there are indications that the Federal Government is considering setting up a code of conduct to effectively guide the use of social media in Nigeria. The purpose is to curtail abuse.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are increasingly playing prominent roles in how voters get political information and follow election news, says a national survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre.

President Goodluck Jonathan recently appointed entertainment mogul and business man, Obi Asika as his social media strategist , with a view to re-energising and re-invigorating image on social media.

Akinwunmi Ambode, gubernatorial aspirant for APC, Jimi Agbaje, PDP’s gubernatorial candidate, Yemi Osinbajo, APC’s vice presidential candidate, and Dakuku Peterside, APC standard bearer in Rivers State are some of the politicians that have developed a strong Twitter presence.

With Nigeria recording a 200 percent increase in internet users between 2009 and 2013, market observers are of the view that the growing penetration of mobile telephony, especially the rise of smartphones, has made social media just a finger tap away.

“From 2011, internet penetration has increased, meaning more people are online, engaging and learning about politics and governance issues,” said ‘Yemi Adamolekun, executive director at Enough Is Enough (EiE).

EiE is a coalition of individuals and youth-led organisations, committed to instituting a culture of good governance and public accountability.

“The freedom that social media provides means it’s easier to share information and news spreads very quickly. So, from normal platforms like twitter and Facebook, to specific apps like Revoda – citizens are using various tools to learn, engage and report about elections,” Adamolekun said in an interview with BD SUNDAY.

There are 13 million Nigerians in the country using Facebook. According to a recent research by TwinePine Research, entitled ‘The State of Digital Media’, 83 percent of social media users in the country are active.

Twitter, the microblogging website has about six million Nigerian users. In view of this, Nigerian politicians are keenly plugging into the social media phenomenon and even recruiting unemployed young people for a cyberwar.

Armed with high-end laptops and smartphones, these cyber ‘thugs’ bombard online outlets with articles with positive comments for their political sponsors, while criticising the opponents.

“Not only are the two leading parties spending money on social media, their supporters are using their platforms to campaign for their candidates,” added Adamolekun.

Taking a broader look at the impact of social media on politics, she pointed out that the use of social media to engage elected officials would increase, as internet penetration rises and data costs reduce.

“This is only natural because social media removes the barriers of gatekeepers and the bureaucracy of the civil service”, she further said.

Kuna Mohammed, technical adviser to the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), spoke of plans to establish basic guidelines to minimise the abuse of social media tools by political parties and campaigning politicians to spread lies and rumours.

“I can see a situation… where the presence of political parties and candidates in social media will be greater than what we have seen in 2011,” he said in a New Media conference organised by EIENigeria in Abuja.

“This therefore, means that there is a need to begin to talk about setting basic rules of etiquette in the use of social media, like in many companies around the world”.

Omobola Johnson, minister of communications technology, had earlier disclosed that the current administration “does not believe in controlling the social media.

“So, we won’t control the use of social media, come elections, but we will be managing them”, she said in a statement in January.

Mustapha Ahmed, a social commentator, has however, emphasised the expected role of social media in Nigerian politics and the elections in 2015.

Ahmed, who was a guest of Rubbin’ Minds on Channels Television, said Nigerians are more aware of the power of the internet and would use it to their advantage as elections draw near.

According to him, Nigerians are currently aware that they can post election results from the comfort of their polling units from various platforms/software applications on their mobile phones.

Ahmed also cited the availability of affordable Android phones as a major factor that will make Nigerians of different classes to be involved in the politics and elections of 2015.

There are about 12 million 3G smartphones in the country, according to MTN. Sterling & Greenback, a Nigeria-based management consulting company, recently conducted a Twitter-based sentiment analysis to determine the attitude of Nigerians towards the two leading parties in the upcoming elections. The PDP trailed the opposition APC in many indices.

According to their figures, the ruling PDP had a national penetration of 1.82 percent, while the APC’s was 15.98 percent.

Other pundits say the postponement of the polls by six weeks gives the PDP ample time to play catch up.

Omolara Olaosebikan, of Quadrant Communications, a public relations firm involved in some of the campaigns, said technology was changing the face of political advertisements in Nigeria. “It’s digital revolution at play. There is no doubt that this year’s election will remain the most competitive in history and the parties do not want to be beaten to the game,” she said.

Ben Uzor