Description
ABSTRACT In recent times, the use of political advert campaigns has become increasingly popular; this was evident in the just concluded 2015 gubernatorial elections in Lagos state. From billboards with obvious slogans, to jingles which took up both radio and television air spaces, ad campaigns by several candidates dominated the media. However the extent to which these ad campaigns influence voting behaviour is unclear. This led the researcher to a discourse analysis of the past election (2015) in order to discover if political ad campaigns actually influences the voter?s choice of candidate or not. This research work specifically examined political ad campaigns (Flayer & Posters) of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and that of the People Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in Lagos state. A field survey of eligible voters in Lagos State was carried out to further ascertain the efficacy of political ad campaigns on the electorates. From the field survey, results were collated, analyzed and summarized using simple frequency tables. Findings from the study showed that political ad campaigns have a minimal effect on electorate?s voting behaviour but still plays a role in the electoral process. This study recommended that political candidates and parties should concentrate on other election campaign strategies and for further studies to be carried out on the application of wilcoxon sign rank test on APC and PDP rule.