The Media and Implications of Ethnicity and Religion in Nigerian Politics GODWIN EHIAREKHIAN OBOH, Ph.D. Abstract This study examined the influence of ethnicity and religion on the Nigerian politics. The paper noted that between October 1960 when the country attained its political independence and May 2015 when General Muhammadu Buhari assumed office as the President of Nigeria, the country had produced 15 heads of government, who were majorly citizens from the Northern and the Western Regions. The study employed the content analysis approach to review the 2015 presidential election and the profiles of the past and present Nigerian leaders, and found that the Igbo community had least representation in the office of the president of Nigeria. Since democracy is a game of numbers, it might be difficult ever having a Nigerian President of an Igbo origin without the support of the other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. Therefore, to create the platform for both the members of the major and the minority ethnic groups in the country to occupy the office of the president of Nigeria, the paper recommends that Nigerian presidency be rotated among the six geo political zones as recommended earlier by Chief Anthony Enaharo. Key Words: Media, Ethnicity, Religion, Culture, Elections Introduction Nigeria has successfully conducted the 2015 elections to the admiration of the members of the international community despite the failure recorded in the use of card reader that was acquired by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that only the registered and accredited Nigerian electorate vote in the elections. Nevertheless, it is always very easy blaming the federal government for the failure recorded in the conduct of elections, except for those who understood the implication of ethnicity and religion in the Nigerian politics. The Nigerian political system evolved from the various segments of the colonial constitutions culminating in the 1960 Nigerian Constitution. So, when the European guided political philosophy was eventually formulated as a paradigm for development in Nigeria, the leaders soon discovered that the model was essentially abstract in nature as it paid no attention to the historical specificity of the people, and treated development as something that was no way connected to the Nigerian culture (Ake, 2003, p. 17). In the series, the Clifford Constitution of _______________ *Dr. Godwin Ehiarekhian Oboh, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and Head, Department of Mass Communication, Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, Edo-State, Nigeria. JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, April 2016, 87 – 106 ©Delmas Communications Ltd.