The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has charged lawmakers to remain fiercely committed to protecting public funds, stating that the National Assembly owes Nigerians a sacred duty to safeguard the national treasury from manipulation.

Akpabio also tasked journalists covering the Senate with setting the highest standards for parliamentary reporting in Nigeria, urging them to deepen their understanding of the Constitution and the rules governing the institution.

The Senate President spoke on Monday at the 2026 Capacity-Building Workshop organised by the Senate Press Corps. The workshop, themed “Leveraging Legislative Oversight and Media Collaboration to Safeguard the National Budget from Unlawful Insertions,” focused heavily on the role of legislative oversight and the media in promoting transparency and accountability within the national budget process.

Represented by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, Akpabio noted that the theme of the workshop “goes to the heart of representative government.”

He stated, “Parliament must guard the public purse, the press must illuminate the public record, and both must answer to the Nigerian people from whom all public authority comes.”

Akpabio urged parliamentary reporters to be thorough and meticulous in their coverage, noting that journalists must always balance the demand for immediate reports with the responsibility to ensure accuracy. He cautioned that parliamentary journalism “demands and requires being very thorough and careful because while sensational claims are rewarded immediately, careful corrections often reach fewer people.”

The Senate President stressed the importance of credible reporting in an environment where public officials and institutions are regularly subjected to intense scrutiny.

“Nigeria needs reporting strong enough to withstand scrutiny," Akpabio said. "We face real hardships and disagreements, and the public deserves facts that help us confront them.”

While noting that journalists should not shy away from exposing wrongdoing, he warned strictly against presenting unverified claims as facts.

“Exposing failure can be an act of service to the Nation. So can resisting the temptation to present conjecture as fact. Patriotism asks us both to tell the truth about our country and to care what happens to it,” he added.

The high-level workshop brought together key stakeholders in the budget and legislative accountability process. Notable presentations were made by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu; Director of BudgIT, Mr Oluseun Onigbinde; Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Mallam Auwal Musa Rafsanjani; and the Publisher of Eagle Times Newspaper, Mr Ikechukwu Chukwunyere.

The stakeholders` presentations focused comprehensively on the different technical aspects of the budget process, the mechanics of legislative oversight, media reporting, and the urgent need for greater accountability in the management of Nigeria`s public resources.