Stallion Times Trains Journalists on Budget Tracking, Reporting in Kano

Stallion Times Trains Journalists on Budget Tracking, Reporting in Kano

AREWA AGENDA – Stallion Times Media Services under the ‘Get Involved, Dialogue and Improve Project (G-DRIP) has trained journalists in Kano state on Budget Tracking and Reporting.

The two-day capacity-building workshop which took place at Kano tourist camp was conducted under the Collaborative Media Project with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and MacArthur Foundation.

In his opening remarks,the CEO and the Project Co-ordinator of stallions Times media services, Mal Isiyaku Ahmed said, the training is an enhancing skills for Journalists in the state to know the fundamental and basic skills that are required for Journalists understand before embarking into budget tracking Report on constituency projects.

Ishaku added that the objectives of the workshop includes building the capacity of journalists on Budget processes and procedures and to train journalists on how to track and report constituency projects in the state.

Stallion times have the privilege to provide expects for the realible practictional in the state that serve for decades In the field to support Journalists on areas that will enlighten them when Seeking for knowledge on budget tracking,this will help them (Journalists) to be able to change the narrative via your reportage,he said.

While addressing thev participants,the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Kano State Council, Comrade Abbas Ibrahim urged the journalists to perform their constitutional duty to ensure that they hold the government accountable at all times.

“Budget tracking is very significant as this is what we can use to hold duties bearer accountable”, he noted.

Abbas enjoined the journalists to make use of the knowledge acquired from the two-day capacity-building workshop to do investigative stories for the common good of the state.

The Director of Budget, Kano State Ministry of Budget, Malam Yakubu Sabi’u in his presentation on ‘Budget Development Process’ said alot of journalists lack the basic skills in budget tracking,which he said are must to be followed In enacted budget law, in-year report, supplementary budget, and year-end report in order to have a clear understanding of how monies are being expended.

Sabi’u encouraged Journalists to be friendly with the ministry ,which will equip them with vital information that will help in fishing out those that give bad records of name to the Government in the public eyes.

The Director, Monitoring and Evaluation,Kano State Ministry of Planning and Budget, Alhaji Abbas Iliyasu added that,

The importance of budget codes should be emphasizing and how to use them in identifying a project.

Abbas said, tracking constituency projects can be a huge task, journalists have to ask questions that are much important before embarking into the field for conducting any investigation.