Influence of social media on political corruption in Nigeria, 2015-2019

Abstract

This paper examined the inuence of social media on political corruption in Nigeria. The study was anchored on two theories: Democratic Participant and Social Capital. Survey research design was adopted with questionnaireas instruments for data collection. The study found that Facebook, Twitter (X), YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok, Blogs, SMS campaigns, Snapchat, WhatsApp,Goggle+, and LinkedIn were the most common platforms used. The platforms exposed corrupt practices in government circles and called for actions for a change; they helped in the formation of social media groups, value re orientation and moral teaching; advocated for adequate funding of anti-graft agencies, demanded that public ofcers should be more transparent in their duties and organized crusades that demanded for the withdrawal of the immunity of political ofce holders. The study concluded that social media platforms have been effectively used in the ght against political corruption in Nigeria. However, there were concerns about the possibility of abusing the potential of social media use in the ght against political corruption in Nigeria and thus a recommendation was made for the government and other policy makers to checkmate them as given their anonymous nature, they may have some credibility issues that could hinder their effective use in the anti-corruption ght and could as well pose the risk of malicious slander of one's character.