Background: The Nigeria’s political/ communication campaigns in this 21st Century is greatly heralded by post-truth that tilts towards repetition over accuracy which greatly threatens and thwart democratic processes and could greatly define political outcomes. This study examines the effect of firehosing propaganda model on political communication and electorate’s political decision in South-East Nigeria, where misinformation increasingly shapes electoral behavior and political engagement.
Objective: this work ascertained the presence and the effect of ‘firehose of falsehood’ propaganda techniques in political communication in South-East Nigeria and how it affects political decision among the electorates in the geopolitical zone.
Methodology: the descriptive survey design was utilised. Structured questionnaire instrument of 18 questions was administered sampled on 356 respondents across the five states in South-East, Nigeria-Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo. This study was anchored on the tenets of Media Framing Theory and Rational Choice Theory. Two-stage sampling technique utilising stratification and purposive sampling techniques were used to sample the population into the aforementioned states. Registered electorate were surveyed proportionally based on the individual state’s population distribution. Data were presented in frequency table and result drawn inferentialy. The research instrument was validated by experts in media effect research from the Department of Mass Communication, AE-FUNAI. Realiability of the instrument was tested through a test-retest of 45-sample pilot study with a report of 0.87% significance.
Results: The study reports a significant application of firehosing among political propagandists in the Southeastern Zone of Nigeria (56.1%). However, respondents indicated mediated effect subject to their personal and group interest and judgments, ethnicity, religion, political education/literacy level. This indicates a moderated effect of forehosing propaganda on culture, religions and other ideologies/values among the electorate However, there exists a significant effect of firehosing electorate’s voting decisions in terms of political interest, participation, political mobilization, voting, and on-the-poll canvassing.
Conclusion: The study confirms significant use of firehose propaganda model in South-East Nigeria’s political communication. While falsehosing has not fully eroded core voters’ values, it has notable influence on political interest, participation, mobilization, and voting..
Recommendations: Addressing this requires national and global policies on media literacy, fact-checking, and institutional reorientation to safeguard political development in Nigeria. There is need to establish a national and global policy and programmes on media literacy, fact-checking and partnership with local and national institutions for (re)orientations on firehosing propaganda for political literacy and development of Nigeria.
Publication Date: 2026-06-15