GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

                                                          ABSTRACT

Information dissemination and management are critical aspects of what makes any society function effectively and a lot of times, people depend on the judgment of certain members of the society to take decisions on what concerns the society or government policies, while others require explanation or approval from key members of the society to determine what would be the right action to take. The study examined The Impact of Opinion Leaders in Information Dissemination in a Political Party using electorates in Ikorodu Local Government to determining the nature of the influence. The study used Two-Step Flow and Diffusion Innovation theories. The study adopted survey research method, using questionnaire and interview as an instrument of data collection, with 300 copies of questionnaires administered among residents of Ikorodu, while 245 were filled and returned. The study discovered that some opinion leaders played negative roles to influence voting behaviour, thereby eroding the credibility of elections in the community, as majority of respondents doubted the credibility of political information from opinion leaders. The study, recommended that government and the civil societies need to put in place an efficient information delivery mechanism to reduce the over- bearing influence of opinion leaders in the communities.

KEYWORDS: Opinion Leader, information dissemination, Political Party, Electorate