Daniel Ojukwu, a reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), has been shortlisted for the Business and Companies category of the 2023 Sanlam Group Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism.

In a media release on Tuesday, Sanlam and Santam, the joint sponsors of the award, announced Ojukwu’s nomination for his 2023 report, Corporate ‘Delulu’: Companies Hide Lawsuits From Investors, Violate IFRS — And Regulators Turn Blind Eye, which details how publicly trading companies in Nigeria were getting away with violating international financial reporting standards and hiding litigation claims.

Ojukwu’s report led to the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) confirming the existence of a loophole that these companies were exploiting, and promising to create a rule to close it.

After the report, Access Holdings, one of the companies found culpable, published its highest-ever recorded figure for claims and litigation since 2014.

READ MORE: Corporate ‘Delulu’: Companies Hide Lawsuits From Investors, Violate IFRS — And Regulators Turn Blind Eye

Daniel is one of seven nominees in the Business and Companies category.

Other nominated Nigerians are Kingsley Jeremiah of The Guardian, for the Business & Companies, African Growth Story and ESG: Business and Society categories; Odimegwu Onwumere of The Nigerian Voice, for the Economy category; Nike Popoola of Punch Newspaper, for Consumer Financial Education; Caleb Ojewale of Business Day, for African Growth Story; Justice Nwafor of Nigerian Tribune, for ESG: Business and the Environment category; and Destiny Onyemihia of Voice of Nigeria, for Broadcast: Audio/Radio category.

For its nine categories, the Sanlam group said it received 170 entries from across 13 African countries.

Nixon Kariithi, chair of the independent judging panel, said of the nominees: “The quality of entries remains high. It has been most encouraging to see both the high number of entries as well as the complex and topical stories spotlighted by financial journalists across the African continent.”

The 2023 Sanlam Group Financial Journalist of the Year and category winners will be announced at a gala event in Johannesburg, South Africa on July 25, 2024, where all nominees are expected to be in attendance.