50 Journalists For Audit Reporting Training In Edo

As part of efforts to achieve greater accountability by state governments, experts in forensic auditing, public finance, accounting and top media professionals have concluded plans to train journalists in audit reporting in Nigeria.

Fifty journalists from Edo and Delta states would participate in the introductory two-day audit reporting training workshops billed to hold in Benin City, the Edo State capital beginning from today, October 5.

Training coordinator for the organisers,  FrontFoot Media Initiative, Mr Chido Nwakanma, who disclosed this in a statement said the training is “the precursors to similar events planned for 2023 and 2024 in other parts of the country”.

Chido said: “At the two-day workshops, journalists will learn to mind state government audit reports for stories that will boost transparency and accountability in Nigeria. The workshop will feature between 20 and 30 participants drawn from print, broadcast, and online media platforms.”

Continuing, the training coordinator added that the workshop was part of the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability Project (C-Media) project of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.

While noting that the project was being sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, the official described audit reporting as central to promoting transparency and “a critical levers to pull Nigeria out of the quagmire of corruption, poverty, and under-development.”

He explained that FrontFoot Media Initiative is a non-profit organisation established to advance democracy and development in Nigeria and the African continent through enhancing the quality of journalism.