The House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, in collaboration with Paradigm Initiative, has charged the Press Corps and parliamentary media teams on digital governance and legislative reporting
The House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs on Monday convened a one-day capacity-building retreat for members of the House Press Corps and parliamentary media teams, with a focus on digital governance and legislative reporting.
The retreat, held at the National Assembly Library in Abuja, was organised in collaboration with Paradigm Initiative and brought together journalists covering the National Assembly, media aides to lawmakers, and digital governance experts.
Speaking at the opening session, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs and House Spokesman, Rep. Akintunde Rotimi (APC Ekiti), said the retreat was aimed at strengthening professionalism, ethics and technical competence in legislative communication, particularly as digital-related legislation continues to expand.
Rotimi noted that issues such as data protection, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, online safety and digital rights are increasingly central to democratic governance and economic development, adding that accurate and responsible reporting of such issues is critical to public trust in democratic institutions.
“The responsibility to interpret these issues accurately and present them clearly to the Nigerian people rests on two key groups represented here today: the accredited Press Corps covering the National Assembly and the media teams that support Members and House leadership,” he said.
He described the retreat as a strategic investment by the committee to position the Tenth Assembly as “The People’s House,” anchored on transparency, engagement and accessibility in public communication.
According to him, transparency demands accuracy and depth in reporting, engagement requires collaboration between journalists and parliamentary communicators, while accessibility ensures that legislative processes are understandable and meaningful to citizens.
“As the volume of digital-related legislation before the National Assembly grows, the responsibility to report such matters with insight, balance and technical understanding also grows,” Rotimi said, stressing that the programme was designed as a practical professional engagement rather than a ceremonial event.
He added that sessions on digital rights, the state of digital freedoms in Nigeria, legislative interpretation and practical simulations were structured to equip participants with skills applicable to their daily work.
Rotimi also commended Paradigm Initiative for providing technical support for the retreat and reaffirmed the committee’s commitment to strengthening institutional credibility through responsible communication.
In his remarks, Chairman of the House of Representatives Press Corps, Gboyega Onadiran, described the retreat as timely, noting that legislative communication now operates within a fast-paced digital ecosystem shaped by data, algorithms, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
“Journalism and legislative communication no longer operate solely in the realm of headlines and press statements,” Onadiran said, adding that the role of the press goes beyond reporting parliamentary proceedings to making the work of the legislature understandable, credible and relevant to citizens.
He commended the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, particularly its chairman, Rep. Rotimi, for sustaining regular capacity-building engagements for parliamentary journalists and media aides.
Onadiran also appreciated Paradigm Initiative for its collaboration and support, urging participants to actively engage in the sessions and leave better equipped to report Nigeria’s evolving digital governance landscape with clarity and responsibility.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, charged members of the House Press Corps to play a more active role in shaping public conversations around digital governance and legislative issues.
Sesan said the media has a critical role to play in bridging the trust gap between citizens and government by translating complex legislative debates, particularly on digital issues, into content that is accessible and engaging to the public.
“There is a trust deficit between the governed and the government in Nigeria, and one of the ways we can begin to fix that is for you, the Press Corps, to help translate conversations that happen here at the National Assembly—especially on digital issues—into things that people want to understand,” he said.
He explained that Paradigm Initiative would use the retreat to introduce participants to the foundational concepts of digital rights and its long-running digital rights reports, which the organisation has consistently published since 2015.
“One of the things I am proud of about our work is consistency,” Sesan added.
The retreat forms part of ongoing efforts by the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs to enhance the quality of legislative reporting and strengthen collaboration between the legislature and the media in the digital age.
