Textual Analysis of Netizen’s Reaction to All Progressives Congress’ Same-Faith Presidential Ticket and Its Implications on Nigeria’s Pluralistic Society

Abstract

In politics, actions and inactions attract reactions. In most cases, when such reactions generate further reactions, it results in controversial decisions. This happened to the All Progressives Congress in 2022 after the emergence of its presidential candidate for the 2023 presidential election. There was no indication on who the running mate would be. Public reactions trailed the silence. Almost stampeded, the party finally named the running mate. This resulted in more reactions: positive, neutral and negative. This study examined the response of netizens to the APC’s decision to field two candidates who share the same religious faith in a multi-religious society; and also analysed the implications of such a decision to the unity of Nigeria—a country known for hyper-sensitivity on ethno-religious matters. Based on a hermeneutic research method, the study was anchored on the public sphere theory. The outcome showed three frames of reactions: there were people who were opposed to the same-faith presidential ticket; another set of people supported the combination; while the third group remained neutral in its reaction. The study therefore raised the need for further enquiries on how politics and religion can be separated to avoid differences in reaction as observed