PREMIUM TIMES honours outstanding journalists at annual awards ceremony

Nigeria’s leading accountability journalism platform, PREMIUM TIMES, has held its combined fourth and fifth annual staff award ceremony, celebrating reporters, editors, and digital strategists whose work has kept the publication at the frontier of investigative and public interest journalism.

The two-day event began on Friday with an in-house gathering at the newspaper’s headquarters in Abuja. The main highlight, however, was the award night held on Saturday evening at BON Hotel Octagon, Jahi, Abuja.

The ceremony covered the 2024 and 2025 editorial cycles.

Recommitting to Values

Speaking at the event, the Editor-in-Chief and Chief Operating Officer, Musikilu Mojeed, described the gathering as an opportunity to celebrate the “exceptional work” of staff members and their commitment to ethical journalism and storytelling excellence.

“Tonight, we celebrate, but we also recommit to the values that brought us here, to the standards that define us, and to the responsibility that comes with being trusted,” Mr Mojeed said.

He noted that PREMIUM TIMES has grown from a modest Abuja newsroom founded in 2011 into one of Africa’s most respected investigative news platforms, recognised globally for rigorous reporting, data-driven journalism, and the courage to pursue difficult truths.

“Our investigative reporting has consistently driven accountability in governance. We have exposed corruption in public institutions, uncovered the misuse of public funds, and triggered investigations by regulatory and law enforcement agencies. In several instances, our work has led to resignations, dismissals, and policy reviews not because we set out to remove individuals, but because we followed the evidence wherever it led,” he said.

Mr Mojeed acknowledged that the newsroom’s brand of journalism has not come without cost.

“Our journalists have faced harassment, intimidation, arrests, and threats. Advertising has been withdrawn by clients uncomfortable with our reporting. Our website has suffered repeated cyberattacks. Yet, we persist,” he said.

Why the awards

In his remarks, Managing Editor Idris Akinbajo said the annual staff awards, launched in 2021, were designed to identify and reward outstanding journalists who produced the best stories and demonstrated consistency in courageous reporting.

“At Premium Times, we do not just reward excellence; we also train and mentor reporters to be the best in their fields. Little wonder that some of our previous winners, after honing their skills with us, left to become reporters and editors at international media outlets such as the BBC, SciDev, ISS, and Reuters,” Mr Akinbajo said.

He said the newspaper combined the fourth and fifth editions to simultaneously recognise winners across both years. The ceremony also introduced two new award categories, Editor of the Year and Digital Strategist of the Year, reflecting the growing importance of editors and digital strategists in a 21st-century newsroom.

Stories submitted for consideration were graded on depth, investigation, relevance, writing quality, and multimedia presentation, Mr Akinbajo said.

The Winners

Awards for the 2024 editorial cycle were presented first, spanning Story of the Month for each month of the year, Story of the Year, Journalist of the Year, Editor of the Year, and Digital Strategist of the Year.

Kabiru Yusuf of the Investigations Desk was named Journalist of the Year for 2024, having won three Story of the Month awards during the year. Mr Yusuf has extensive experience covering issues that span accountability, anti-corruption, conflict and security, energy, finance, health, human rights, governance, politics, and technology. He holds a Master’s degree in Communication Studies from Bayero University, Kano, and was selected for the US International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) in 2025.

His Investigations Desk colleague, Folashade Ogunrinde, won the Story of the Year for her investigation exposing the illegal operations of the mining firm responsible for the fatal Ibadan explosion.

Northern Desk Editor Bisi Abidoye was named Editor of the Year, while Aaron Cole emerged as Digital Strategist of the Year. Each award came with a plaque and a cash prize of N500,000.

For the 2025 cycle, Mariam Ileyemi of the Development Desk was named Reporter of the Year, also on the strength of three Story of the Month wins during the year. The health reporter, who joined the ceremony virtually, said the recognition was deeply personal.

“I am grateful to PREMIUM TIMES for creating an environment that is inclusive and supportive, especially for female reporters, and for giving us the space to pursue impactful stories,” Ms Ileyemi said.

The Story of the Year for 2025 was jointly awarded to Business Editor Oladeinde Olawoyin and Ms Ogunrinde for their investigation documenting how battery recycling operations are poisoning Nigerians.

Development Editor Nike Adebowale-Tambe won the Editor of the Year award for 2025, while Aaron Cole and his colleague Esther Adaji jointly clinched the Digital Strategist of the Year award.

Abiodun Ojo was also recognised, emerged as the winner of the Business Development Staff of the Year award.

Winners and winning stories

For 2024, Mr Yusuf became Journalist of the Year with his wins in March, October and November.

He won in March with his investigation, detailing how Nigerian soldiers killed unarmed civilians in the Kaduna community. His report, which documented the devastating impact of floods on Maiduguri local businesses, won in October. He repeated the feat in November with his story, which exposed how a national security adviser approved suspicious billions for a family friend.

Qosim Suleiman, a member of the Development Desk, won for July with his report, highlighting how insecurity was fueling medical desert in north-west Nigeria. Mr Suleiman also won for December with his piece, which documented how insecurity is robbing Nigerian kids of education.

A member of the National Desk, Abdulqudus Ogundapo, won for January with his report, exposing how Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s habitual lateness delays Senate plenaries and disrupts legislative schedules.

A former member of the PREMIUM TIMES’ Judiciary, Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Desk, Ameh Ejekwonyilo, picked the award for month of February with his report detailing how local militias are ruining lives and property in Benue State.

In April, James Aparshe of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development won with his investigation, which exposed how a Nigerian lawmaker delivered and rehabilitated a building as a new constituency project.

Ms Ileyemi won in May with her report documenting why many Nigerian health workers are susceptible to Lassa fever.

Ms Ogunrinde won in June with her story, Inside illegal operations of the mining firm responsible for the Ibadan fatal explosion.

The Business Editor, Mr Olawoyin, Ronald Adamolekun, Abdulkareem Mojeed, and Ntiedo Ekott jointly emerged victorious in August with their story detailing the real reasons for Nigeria’s massive post-harvest losses amid the food crisis (III).

A member of the South-east/South-south Desk, Saviour Imukudo, won in September with his story, which documented how the decline in palm wine leads to scarcity and adulteration.

For the year 2025, Ms Ileyemi emerged as the Reporter of the Year with her victories in March, July, and then April, which she shared with her Development Desk Editor, Ms Adebowale.

The health reporter clinched the March victory with her report detailing how Ogun’s healthcare crisis pushes Nigerians to the neighbouring country.

Her joint victory with Ms Adebowale-Tambe in April was with their story, which highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s slashing of family planning budget by 97 per cent amid a decline in donor funding.

Ms Ileyemi’s third victory came in July with her story on how Nigeria’s largest cities are losing lives to preventable diseases.

Like Ms Ileyemi, another reporter from the Development Desk, Oluwakemi Adelagun, emerged victorious for three months – – January, February and May.

But Ms Ileyemi had superior points.

Ms Adelagun won in January with her report, which documented how worksite crèches empower Nigerian women to balance careers and motherhood.

Her story on how women thriving in non-traditional roles still face entrenched gender stereotypes ensured her victory for February.

The gender reporter also excelled in May with her review, which showed that President Tinubu’s gender inclusion agenda fell short of promises.

In August, a member of the Business Desk, Abdulkareem Mojeed, won with his story, showing how farmers and fishermen were suffering from the impact of the oil spill in Niger Delta communities.

A member of the Northern Desk, Ahmadu Maishanu, won in September with his investigation, which exposed a former Kano governor’s multi-billion naira dry port ownership scandal.

In October, Chinagorom Ugwu, a member of the South-East/South-South Desk, won with his investigation, which exposed the certificate forgery of then-Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology.

Business Editor, Mr Olawoyin, and a reporter from the Investigation Desk, Ms Ogurinde, were joint winners for November with their investigation, which uncovered how battery recycling operations were poisoning Nigerians.

Another member of the South-East/South-South Desk, Saviour Imukudo, was named winner in December with his report, in which he documented how the declining number of tappers contributes to the shortage and rising costs of palm wine.

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Rain of plaques, cash prizes

Apart from cash prizes, winners in each category also received commemorative plaques in recognition of their work.

Traditionally, a winner for the monthly story awards receives a cash prize of N50,000.

But during the award ceremony, Mr Mojeed, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, announced that an anonymous donor promised to give each winner an additional prize of N100,000.

The cash prize for the Reporter of the Year award is N500,000, while winners of the Story of the Year award went home with N250,000.

However, the editor-in-chief also announced that another anonymous donor had promised to match the prize for the winners of Story of the Year 2025.

Thanking guests for their presence

In his vote of thanks, PREMIUM TIMES’ Deputy Managing Editor, Adeyemi Adesomoju, praised guests and dignitaries who attended the event, saying their support for the newspaper has continued to help the company’s growth and holding powers to account.

“We will not take for granted the confidence and trust you have invested in us over a decade of our impactful journalism,” said Mr Adesomoju, who also heads the newspaper’s Judiciary, Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Desk.