Nigerian Journalist Disagrees With MFWA Over Withdrawal of WAMECA Award
- Nigerian journalist Abdulrasheed Hammad said he acted in good faith, followed all the guidelines provided by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and produced a story that was "recognised purely on merit and impact"
- Hammad challenged the MFWA's withdrawal of his earlier recognition, describing it as "unjust," while urging the organisation to reconsider its action "in the interest of fairness, transparency, and credibility"
- Hammad, also a lawyer, stressed that he stands by the integrity of his work 'report, titled 'Fiscal transparency: Despite ICT advancement, Nigerian states’ open contracting portals inaccessible,' and the principles of fairness that journalism represents
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over nine years of experience covering public affairs.
FCT, Abuja - Abdulrasheed Hammad, an Abuja-based Nigerian journalist, has described the decision of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to withdraw his award as "unjust".
Legit.ng spoke with Hammad, who expressed his profound disappointment.
Source: Twitter
Recall Hammad, a freelance journalist, had been announced as the winner of the 'Telecommunications and ICT' category at the 2025 West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA) in Accra, Ghana, on October 11.
However, disclosing a dramatic U-turn, MFWA, organisers of the WAMECA awards, announced Rabo Oumarou, from Burkina Faso, as the new winner, following the disqualification of Hammad.
MFWA said:
"This decision follows a review of the eligibility of the award-winning report, conducted after a complaint filed by a Nigerian media outlet, the International Centre for Investigative Journalism (ICIR).
"The complaint stated that the award-winning report, titled “Fiscal transparency: Despite ICT advancement, Nigerian states’ open contracting portals inaccessible,” was originally published by the journalist on July 31, 2023, on the ICIR website as part of its Open Contract Reporting (OCRP) project. The media outlet further alleged that the journalist republished the same article on another site, Pen Press, a university media outlet in Nigeria, on January 5, 2024, in order to make it eligible for this year’s prize.
"However, WAMECA 2025 only accepted applications for articles published between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024."
The MFWA stated that after consulting with both parties, Hammad and ICIR, it concluded that the journalist's report is ineligible for WAMECA 2025, "as it was originally published before the required publication period".
Abdulrasheed Hammad tackles MFWA
But kicking against that decision, Hammad denied any wrongdoing.
He wrote across his social media pages:
"In my response to MFWA, I made it clear that I was a fellow under the ICIR Open Contracting Reporting Fellowship between 2022 and 2024. During this fellowship, fellows were explicitly encouraged to republish their stories on credible media platforms to reach wider audiences and achieve greater impact.
"Following this instruction, all my fellowship reports, like those of other fellows, were republished on Ripples Nigeria and PEN PRESS, with full acknowledgement of ICIR and the MacArthur Foundation for their support.
"For example: My story “Abandoned Health Projects Litter Sokoto Despite Multi-Million Naira Investment” was first published by ICIR in December 2022 https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-abandoned.../, and later republished by PEN PRESS on March 30, 2023 https://penpress.ng/investigation-abandoned-health.../
"Another story, “After Spending N70m, Contractor Shabbily Executed Sokoto Roads”, was first published on PEN PRESS on September 29, 2022, https://penpress.ng/investigation-after-spending-n70m.../ then republished on Ripples Nigeria on September 30, 2022, https://www.ripplesnigeria.com/investigation-how-n70m.../, and later on ICIR’s website on October 5, 2022. https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-after-spending.../.
Furthermore, Hammad stated ICIR’s claim that he required its consent to republish his report is "legally baseless".
He said:
"Under Section 6(1) of the Nigerian Copyright Act, the author of a literary work, including journalism, owns the copyright unless the work was produced under employment or there is a written agreement transferring that right. There was no such agreement between me and ICIR. The N70,000 paid for the report as a fellowship stipend does not amount to a transfer of copyright. Furthermore, the fellowship guidelines did not prohibit republication, and my report properly acknowledged ICIR and the MacArthur Foundation at the end. Therefore, I remain the lawful copyright holder of my work."
He continued:
"ICIR’s action of writing to MFWA to challenge my award is without any legal or ethical justification. What makes their conduct worse is that they alleged, without presenting any evidence, that I intentionally republished the report in January 2024 to make it eligible for the 2025 WAMECA Awards. This allegation is false and misleading because the report was republished on January 5, 2024, while the call for entries for WAMECA 2025 was only opened in April 2025, more than a year later. The republication was done in good faith and in accordance with the fellowship practice of amplifying impact, not for award purposes.
Hammad tackled the ICIR for publicly celebrating his nomination when it reported that one of its fellows’ works was shortlisted for WAMECA 2025.
He said:
"If ICIR had genuine concerns, it should have raised them at that stage. Instead, after my story had been meritoriously declared the winner, they secretly petitioned MFWA to revoke the award without even informing me. This conduct is not only unethical but also shows bad faith."
The public-interest media practitioner argued that withdrawing the award after public recognition "not only damages my professional reputation but also undermines MFWA’s own credibility and fairness as an institution that claims to promote media excellence and integrity."
Read more on media achievements by Nigerian journalists:
- Legit.ng’s James Ojo selected for 2025 AIJC Investigative Journalism Masterclass
- Legit.ng journalist among 15 selected for 2025/2026 DPI fellowship
- Legit.ng journalist selected for Change Reporting fellowship
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Source: Legit.ng
