Abuja: In a bid to strengthen civic voices and expose systemic gaps, the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) has unveiled a $4,000 grant to support evidence-based investigative reporting focused on transparency and governance.
The Chief Executive Officer of PPDC, Mrs Lucy Abagi, made the announcement on Monday in Abuja at a media convening on “Strengthening Civic Voices: The Role of CSOs and Media in Driving Transparency”.
Abagi said that the initiative was aimed at supporting no fewer than five media practitioners to conduct investigative reports on stories that aligned with transparency and accountability across communities.
According to her, the reports should expose untold stories, issues, and challenges across communities, including why projects are not implemented and why funds are not used as intended, among other things.
“What are the issues with people not accessing justice? What are the problems with people not being able to get legal representation? How long does an inmate stay in prison without access to the four corners of the courtroom?
“It is essential to know that, since PPDC is driving transnational accountability, our work is based on data and storytelling.
“It aims at transforming complex issues into what citizens can easily relate to and what our government officials can use to inform policy debates and policy reforms.
“So we have looked very deeply and I’ve seen that we need more investigative reporting as to the issues across communities, procurement governance and access to justice,” she said.
Abagi said that the portal would be launched in the next 30 days for media partners and individuals to apply for the grant, expressing the hope that it will be used for the set purpose.
“So we want journalists to be able to dig deeper and come up with stories that reflect, or come up with news, evidence-based data that reflects the key issues underlying these challenges that we’ve highlighted,” she stated.
Also speaking, the Communication Manager of PPDC, Nnenna Eze, said that the initiative was about building partnerships that would turn information into influence and stories into sustained public pressure, for transparency and accountability.
Eze noted that the launch of the investigative journalism grant would enhance rigorous reporting that would go beyond surface claims, follow accountability trails and bring to light governance challenges that mattered to everyday people.