As Osun State prepares for its 2026 governorship election, a niche media and cinematic platform dedicated to producing impactful journalism on development issues across Nigeria and Africa, DevReporting, in partnership with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), through its Local Media Sustainability Fund (LMSF), and with support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy, has urged journalists based in Osun State to apply for a training and story grant opportunity on governance, transparency, accountability, and public service delivery.

The initiative comes against the backdrop of a prolonged leadership crisis that has disrupted governance across the state’s 30 local councils and Modakeke Area Council.

The project seeks to deepen public understanding of how contested local council leadership, financial autonomy, and weak accountability have affected service delivery and the lives of ordinary citizens.

Participants will also be able to apply for story grants towards producing evidence-based, human-centred investigations that examine the implications of the local council leadership crisis, financial autonomy, the management of public resources, and the performance of governance institutions at the state and grassroots levels.

According to DevReporting’s Programme Manager and Associate Editor, Samson Ademola, the period leading to the governorship election presents an important opportunity for journalism to help citizens interrogate governance beyond campaign promises.

He said that the application deadline is July 12, 2026.

However, selected journalists will participate in a capacity-building workshop focused on investigative and accountability reporting at the subnational level. They will also receive mentorship from experienced editors and reporting grants to support fieldwork and story production.