By Fatima Ndagi
The House of Representatives has called for more accurate, ethical and technically grounded reporting on digital governance issues, as lawmakers grapple with rising legislation on data protection, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital rights.
The call was made on Monday at a one-day capacity-building retreat organised by the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs for members of the House Press Corps and parliamentary media teams.
Held at the National Assembly Library in Abuja, the retreat was organised in partnership with Paradigm Initiative and brought together journalists covering the National Assembly, media aides to lawmakers and experts in digital governance.
Speaking at the opening session, Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs and House Spokesman, Rep. Akintunde Rotimi (APC, Ekiti), said the programme was aimed at strengthening professionalism, ethics and technical competence in legislative communication, particularly as digital-related bills continue to increase before the Tenth Assembly.
Rotimi said issues such as data protection, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, online safety and digital rights have become central to democratic governance and economic development, stressing that how they are reported directly affects 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 part of a broader effort to position the Tenth Assembly as “The People’s House,” anchored on transparency, engagement and accessibility.
According to him, transparency requires depth and accuracy in reporting, engagement depends on effective collaboration between journalists and parliamentary communicators, while accessibility ensures that legislative work is understandable 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 added.
He noted that the retreat was designed as a practical engagement rather than a ceremonial event, with sessions covering digital rights, the state of digital freedoms in Nigeria, legislative interpretation and hands-on simulations.
Rotimi commended Paradigm Initiative for its technical support and reaffirmed the committee’s commitment to strengthening institutional credibility through responsible public communication.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Press Corps, Gboyega Onadiran, described the retreat as timely, noting that legislative reporting now operates within a rapidly evolving digital ecosystem driven by data, algorithms, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity concerns.
“Journalism and legislative communication no longer operate solely in the realm of headlines and press statements,” Onadiran said, adding that parliamentary reporting must help citizens understand the relevance and impact of legislative work.
He praised the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, particularly Rep. Rotimi, for sustaining regular capacity-building programmes for parliamentary journalists and media aides.
Onadiran also commended Paradigm Initiative for its collaboration and urged participants to actively engage in the sessions to better report Nigeria’s evolving digital governance landscape.
In his remarks, Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, urged parliamentary journalists to take a more active role in shaping public discourse on digital governance and legislative issues.
Sesan said the media plays a crucial role in bridging the trust gap between citizens and government by simplifying complex legislative debates, especially those related to digital policy.
“There is a trust deficit between the governed and the government in Nigeria, and one way to begin fixing it is for the Press Corps to help translate conversations that happen here at the National Assembly—particularly on digital issues—into content people can understand,” he said.
He said the retreat would also expose participants to core digital rights concepts and Paradigm Initiative’s annual digital rights reports, which the organisation has published consistently since 2015.
The retreat forms part of ongoing efforts by the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs to improve the quality of legislative reporting and strengthen media-legislature collaboration in the digital age.
Reps Push for Improved Digital Governance Reporting at Journalists’ Retreat
