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Sustainable Democracy And The Nigeria Project
With the appointment of Prof Attahiru Jega as the helmsman of INEC, a new chapter may have been opened in the nation’s electoral reforms process aimed at conducing a free and fair elections in 2011.
President Goodluck Jonathan, some would easily concede, appears to have made good his promise to kick-start institutional administrative and legal framework for a transparent and credible elections in 2011.
It is believed that with the appointment part of federal government’s desire to ensure that next year’s general elections will witness a radical departure from our ugly past, has began.
Already, pressures are mounting on the presidency to take a step further by retiring all serving electoral commissioners, especially those involved in the electoral bazaar in 1999, 2003 and 2007 general elections.
As much as one will not want to doubt the president’s determination to, for once, prove our critics wrong that Nigeria can hold elections that would be acclaimed worldwide as “fair and credible”, we really need to ask our s e I v e s whether or not the enabling environment has been put in place for a smooth, credible and transparent elections, come 201 1.
Proclamations and policy statements by the presidency, National Assembly, the electoral body (INEC) and other relevant stakeholders are not enough. We need the political will and commitment to depart from the ugly past to actualise our dream.
Nigerian leadership needs to purge itself of partisan politics and go for patriotism and national interest if we must succeed in this direction.
Besides, the political will on the part of the presidency, and the National Assembly must as a matter of necessity facilitate the process in tandem with realities on ground and conventionally acceptable global norms .
Besides, INEC, as an umpire must be made to be unbiased and independent and not necessarily taking tall “orders from above” to subvert peoples choices of candidates.
The voters’ register must be reviewed as the existing one no longer conforms with current realities. Rules, regulations and guidelines on elections must be rigidly adhered to and not bent to suit sectional or partisan interest.
Electoral officers need re-orientation and a complete departure from the existing order which makes them erroneously believe that power of incumbency and the ruling party interest must be protected always.
The security apparatus paramiIitary officers must play by the rules during elections. Our security officers tend to naturally align with the ruling party or person in power either for gratifications. The police, State Security Service (SSS) and other military or paramilitary officers must play by the rules during elections, come 2011.
We must realise at all times that Nigeria is far greater than those temporarily in power and therefore must exhibit neutrality and fairness to all during elections.
The judiciary also has a major role to play towards a fair and credible electoral system. Apart from avoiding unnecessary injunctions and avoidable adjournments on electoral cases, the judiciary as the last hope of our fragile democracy must ensure that electoral disputes are dispensed off on time, possibly before winners are sworn into public offices.
Similarly, voters have a major role to play in our crave to achieve credible polls. They need not mortgage their conscience but insist on credible polls.
Hence, as the 2011 general elections draw closer, the presidency and other stakeholders must ensure that this time around, Nigeria evolves an electoral process that is transparent and credible and which will leave a lasting legacy in our political history.
Goodluck Ukwe
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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