News
Saraki’s Counsel’s Health Stalls Appeal

The hearing of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki’s appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal, Abuja, yesterday, against the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has been stalled again.
The inability of the court to sit on the matter stemmed from a reported ill-health of the applicant’s (Saraki) counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN).
The Senate President is being tried at the tribunal for alleged false and anticipatory declaration of his asset while serving as governor of Kwara.
The Federal Government had also alleged that the applicant violated the country’s Money Laundering law.
However, Saraki, who denied any wrong doing, is challenging the jurisdiction of the CCT to try him.
Agabi had transmitted a letter to the presiding Judge, Justice Abdul Aboki, seeking an adjournment on account of his ill-health.
Our source further reports that the application was not opposed by the respondent’s counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacob (SAN)
“In view of the letter sent to this panel from the applicant’s counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi, seeking adjournment on account of ill health and since this prayer is not opposed, the court will grant it.
“The hearing of the appeal is hereby adjourned until July 18,’’ Aboki said.
It would be recalled that hearing of the appeal was stalled on May 31, as the panel could not form the mandatory quorum to hear the matter.
Justice Moore Adumien, leading two other justices, fixed the matter to June 2.
Meanwhile, the Code of Conduct Tribunal has fixed June 7 to June 9 for the continuation of the trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
Saraki is standing trial on a 16-count charge of alleged false asset declaration.
The tribunal had on Wednesday, June 1, adjourned following a request by the prosecution counsel to adjourn to allow its key witness, Micheal Wetkas, attend to another matter at the Federal High Court.
The chairman of the tribunal, Danladi Umar, adjourned the trial, but failed to give a date for its continuation.
Following media publications that the trial was adjourned “indefinitely”, the CCT, in statement signed by its head of press and public relation, Ibraheem Al-hassan, said the next date for the trial would be June 7.
“The decision for the adjournment to the new dates was sequel to the abrupt written request from the lead prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacob (SAN) that his PWI Mr. Michael Wetkas was scheduled to testify before the Federal High Court, Abuja, in the same date, thus; 1st June 2016,” the statement said.
News
FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

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.
News
FAAC Disburses N2.225trn For August, Highest In Nigeria

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.
News
KenPoly Governing Council Decries Inadequate Power Supply, Poor Infrastructure On Campus
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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