This study is concerned with how negative media framing of intraparty conflicts defined political discourse during the 2023 presidential election campaigns in Nigeria. Analysing front-page stories in The Punch and the Daily Trust newspapers from September 2022 to February 2023, the research showed that conflict-focused reporting dominated campaign coverage. Using a qualitative framing approach, the study looks at the depiction of these conflicts in depth and findings showed that negative media narratives contribute to heightening pre-election tensions. Furthermore, the inflammatory rhetoric and actions of politicians can foist a zero-sum mindset, which in turn produces a polarised political landscape, wherein, sensationalised reporting of internal party disputes overshadow meaningful political debates. To strengthen the country’s democratic process, media organisations and practitioners are enjoined to prioritise policy discussions which promote national cohesion rather than emphasis on political conflicts.