ABSTRACT

This study examined the Nigerian elections in other to ascertain if a high level of politicalawareness may be equal to active participation in politics among voters in Lagos State during thejust concluded governorship elections in the State. The objectives that guided the study were to;ascertain the extent to which voters’ awareness of the governorship candidates for Lagos wasinfluenced by the media projections; evaluate the extent to which voters’ knowledge of thecandidates’ manifestoes for Lagos State governorship election was influenced by their mediacampaigns and to ascertain the extent to which the voters’ choice candidate for the Lagos Stategovernorship election was influenced by media portrayals. This study was anchored on twotheories; Agenda setting and Cultivation theory. This study adopted survey research method forgathering data through the questionnaire which were administered on 384 respondents that wasdrawn from the total number of registered voters in Lagos State 7,060,195 (INEC. 2023). Thesampling techniques used for the study were purposive, quota and systematic techniques. Thestudy found among others that, public awareness of socio-political and economic issues in anysocietyis influenced byso manyfactors, including the media which was judged bytheextend theagenda setting function of the media played in the 2023 gubernatorial election in Lagos State. Inconclusion, the study deduced that, there is also a significant relationship between extends ofthe knowledge of the manifestoes of the different political parties and exposure to the politicalpresentations in the media. As a result, the researcher recommends amongst others that, it isobviousthatNigeriansarebecomingincreasinglypoliticallyaware,campaignsinthemediashouldbeissuebased in other not to sound likemerepropaganda.