Legitimation and Delegitimation Strategies in Selected 2023 Campaign Speeches of the

Political discourse is used to convey ideology, power, and political identity through discursive strategies. Therefore, this study examined how de/legitimating strategies construct political identity and credibility in Mr Peter Obi’s 2023 campaign speeches during the Nigerian general elections. Employing van Leeuwen’s (2008) legitimation model and qualitative design and thematic/content analysis, four of his speeches and 20 excerpts were purposive sampled and analysed. The analysis shows that Mr Obi employs all of the four de/legitimating strategies of van Leeuwen (2008): authorization, moral evaluation, rationalization, and mythopoesis, with their relevant sub-strategies. While these strategies legitimate Mr Obi as an accountable, credible, and competent candidate for the presidency, they delegitimate his political opponents (PDP and APC) as corrupt, incompetent, and visionless politicians. The study concludes that these de/legitimation discursive strategies collectively boosted Obi’s political identity and credibility ahead of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.