Assessment of Nigerian journalists’ preparedness for reporting election results and disputes

Electoral process in Africa especially Nigeria is a long route which often times leads to results being disputed the courts and sometimes end crisis. The media play significant role this given their enormous influence on public. This study examined Nigerian journalists’ preparedness for covering election disputes with focus 2023 general elections. Anchored symbolic interactionism theory, adopted survey gauge opinions of journalists from six states southwest form population. A structured questionnaire was administered 300 respondents 50 per state selected through non-proportional quota sampling. Findings revealed that majority are well conscious reporting respective organisations prepare them such duties training supply tools less provision funds facilitate task field. Most also agreed other bodies like Press Council, Union Journalists, Civil societies international organisations, better coverage than training, funding, tools. concludes journalists, aware elections, more prepared by external employers recommends should deploy resources preparing reporters job.
 
 Keywords: Agenda-setting, Election Results, Disputes, Symbolic