Social media platforms serve as alternative means of communication for many across the globe and as such have emerged as critical instruments for political discourse. Twitter, for instance, owing to its affordances enables the rapid spread of information and has thus become a strategic tool for political actors. Using social media, citizens challenge government actions and policies, while politicians use the platforms to make announcements, self-promote, and directly engage voters. Research has shown that by reason of the public sphere-like composition of these platforms, social media discourse can shape public opinion and may determine election outcomes. Against this backdrop, this study explored Twitter discourse about former Vice President Atiku Abubakar's presidential ambition. On 23 March 2022, Abubakar declared his intention to contest Nigeria's presidency in the 2023 general elections. This announcement marked the sixth time the former Vice President is vying for the position. The manual and computerassisted qualitative analyses of about 3,000 tweets with the hashtags #AtikuDeclares2023 and #AtikuDeclaration, revealed three themes – Old Guard, Zoning, and Competence. These findings point to some of the key issues that shape Nigerian politics and may decisively influence whether Atiku emerges as Nigeria's next president.
Vol. 1, No 1, pp. 99-113.