DIGITAL POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA: A THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING ON SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT, POLITICAL INFORMATION CREDIBILITY, AND CITIZENS’ TRUST IN GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Rivers State is a demanding setting in which to test the claim that social media strengthens public accountability. The State is politically contested and economically central to the Nigerian federation, and in March 2025 it was placed under a six-month state of emergency that suspended its governor, deputy governor, and legislators. This paper advances a theoretical position on how digital political communication relates to public accountability in that setting. Drawing on media dependency theory, the public sphere tradition, Easton’s account of political support, and Bovens’s accountability framework, it argues that social media engagement does not produce accountability directly. Its effect passes through the perceived credibility of political information, which shapes citizens’ trust in government institutions, and trust in turn determines whether citizens convert online claims into formal demands for answers. Six propositions are derived and tied to measurable indicators. The paper also considers how legal responses to online speech, including section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act as amended in 2024, alter the conditions under which engagement takes place. Implications are drawn for government communication offices, media organisations, civil society, and researchers working in Rivers State.