Semiotic Analysis of the Political Advertisements of APC and PDP Presidential Candidates in the 2015 Elections in Nigeria

Abstract

Visual Artists have in the course of time, perfected the art of packaging politicians the way they (Visual Artists) package commodities. Such high-tech skills which included the manipulation of images and imageries in projecting political actors could be said to have reached a crescendo in the political advertisements of the presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and her People's Democratic Party (PDP's) counterpart in the 2015 elections. Given that those packaging strategies not only constitute the main ligaments of the affected political advertisements, but also confer status and uniqueness on them; it becomes a research problem that requires a critical examination of the visual elements of the said political advertisements. Relying on the Action Assembly for theoretical guidance; the study undertook a semiotic analysis of the political advertisements of the APC and PDP presidential candidates in the 2015 elections. The objectives of the study were to: (i) determine the semiotic significations of the graphic elements of the political advertisements of APC and PDP presidential candidates in the politico-cultural context of the Nigerian society and (ii) ascertain if there is any difference in the strategies of the political advertisements of the APC and PDP presidential candidates in the 2015 elections. Using the Equal Sample Allocation Method, the study arrived at a sample size of one hundred and thirty-two editions of four purposively-selected National Dailies viz: Guardian, Nation, Sun & Vanguard newspapers. The study found that the graphic elements in the political advertisements of APC and PDP presidential candidates in the 2015 elections depicted more of negativity. Again, it confirmed the fact that there is significant difference in the strategies of the political advertisements of the APC and PDP in the 2015 elections.