By Abbanobi-Eku Onyeka
The Senate Press Corps has called for stronger collaboration between the National Assembly and the media to detect and prevent unlawful insertions in Nigeria’s annual budgets, stressing that effective oversight and investigative journalism are critical to protecting public funds.
The call was made by Taiye Odewale, the Chairman, Senate Press Corps (SPC), while welcoming participants the Chairman of the Senate Press Corps (SPC) at the 2026 Capacity-Building Workshop of the SPC in Abuja, on Monday, with the theme, “Leveraging Legislative Oversight and Media Collaboration to Safeguard the National Budget from Unlawful Insertions.” The workshop is focused on budgetary integrity, legislative oversight, public accountability and responsible journalism.
Speaking on behalf of members of the Senate Press Corps, he said the choice of the theme was informed by concerns arising from the controversy over the inclusion of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The disputed council was allocated about ₦1.3 billion in the 2026 budget, despite subsequent controversy over its legal and administrative status. The Presidency had disowned the council, while the Budget Office later explained that it processed the provision based on official documents available to it.
The 2026 Appropriation Act provides for aggregate expenditure of ₦68.32 trillion and was assented to by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on April 17, 2026.
The Senate Press Corps said the PFIPC episode demonstrated the need for journalists covering the National Assembly to develop a deeper understanding of the budget process and work more closely with lawmakers and other stakeholders in tracking appropriations from proposal to implementation.
It noted that presentations by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu; Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani; Director of BudgIT, Oluseun Onigbinde; and Publisher of Eagle Times Newspaper, Ikechukwu Chukwunyere, would provide participants with practical knowledge on budget scrutiny and accountability.
Goodwill messages from the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio; Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin; Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Olamilekan Adeola; Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mohammed Sani Musa; Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Kawu Sumaila; and Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, are also expected to enrich discussions on legislative scrutiny and budget passage.
The workshop will also feature a technical session on the application of Artificial Intelligence tools in journalism, facilitated by London-based Mass Media TX Limited.
The Press Corps expressed the hope that the programme would strengthen the professional capacity of journalists to scrutinise public expenditure, identify questionable budgetary provisions and report legislative and budgetary processes more effectively.
