By Adamu Yusuf
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, has called on journalists to go beyond identifying controversial provisions in the national budget and deepen their understanding of the constitutional processes, rationale behind budgetary choices and development needs those provisions are intended to address.
He made the call at a one-day capacity-building workshop organised by the Senate Press Corps on the theme, “Leveraging Legislative Oversight and Media Collaboration to Safeguard the National Budget from Unlawful Insertion,” held at the National Assembly in Abuja.
The Minister urged media professionals to promote informed public discourse and strengthen accountability in the budget process to enable Nigerians understand the choices underpinning the Federal Government’s development agenda.
He challenged journalists to ask the right questions and thoroughly investigate budget provisions rather than draw conclusions without sufficient context.
Also speaking, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, represented by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, charged journalists to pay close attention to the Senate’s rules of procedure, ensure balanced reportage and uphold the highest standards of parliamentary reporting.
Senator Akpabio commended the media and civil society organisations for their scrutiny and monitoring roles in ensuring that the legislature effectively discharges its responsibilities in the nation’s democratic governance.
He called for sustained collaboration among the media, civil society and lawmakers, stressing that the three stakeholders should work together to advance Nigeria’s democracy.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Senate Press Corps, Mr Taiye Odewale, said the theme of the workshop was designed to equip journalists with the knowledge and skills required to engage more effectively with the budgeting process.
He said the training would enable journalists to leverage legislative oversight to identify and report unlawful insertions, which he described as a recurring concern in the national budgeting process.
The workshop featured presentations on the use of Artificial Intelligence for parliamentary media and public accountability, following the budget and tracking public funds, citizens’ budget needs assessment, tracking appropriation bill estimates against the National Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, as well as engaging lawmakers with government implementing agencies.
Editing by Khadija Kubau
