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Guber Tribunal: Wike Opens Defence On AAC’s Petition

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, yesterday, opened defence on the election petition filed by African Action Congress (AAC) and its gubernatorial candidate, Engineer Biokpomabo Awara before the Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Port Harcourt.
Appearing as a witness for Wike at the Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal, yesterday, the former Nigerian Ambassador to South Korea and Director General of Rivers State PDP Campaign Council, Amb Desmond Akawor told the tribunal that the March 9, 2019 Governorship Election was conducted peacefully and in compliance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines across the polling units of the state.
Akawor said that Wike emerged victorious after the peaceful voting that took place across the state.
He said the Governorship Election was concluded across the polling units, results announced and collation done in the wards and local government areas.
The DG said that INEC only suspended the final collation after soldiers unleashed violence and attempted to hijack the process.
He spoke during cross examination by counsel to the Rivers State Governor, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) and counsel to PDP, Godwin Obla (SAN).
The Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal has adjourned to September 30, 2019 for adoption of written addresses by all parties involved in the matter.
Akawor tendered certified copy of Form EC8E, which is the declaration of the Governorship Election result, and also tendered the Certificate of Return issued to Wike.
The envoy also tendered certified polling units results from across Rivers State issued to polling agents during the March 9, 2019 Governorship election.
He further tendered Form EC8A containing Governorship Election Results from 16 local government areas and 129 wards.
Akawor told the Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal that before INEC suspended the collation of results due to the interference by the Army, collation had been completed in 17 local government areas.
He referred the tribunal to Paragraph 12vi of the press release of INEC of 10th and 15 March, 2019.
He further tendered the affidavit of former deputy governorship candidate of AAC, Chief Akpo Bomba Yeeh denouncing the party and declaring that Nyesom Wike won the election.
Earlier, at the resumed hearing of the tribunal, last Wednesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), tendered some documents to the court and announced its close of defence on the petition with no witness presented for cross examination.
Counsel for INEC, Steve Adeyi (SAN) had told the court that haven examined all evidence brought by the petitioner that there was no allegation made against it, hence the decision to close its case with no witness for defence.
However, after acknowledging the documents, the three man tribunal led by Justice Kingsley Ojiakor adjourned till yesterday for the 2nd respondent (Governor Wike) to open defence.
Speaking with newsmen at the court premises, INEC counsel, Steve Adeyi (SAN) noted that the commission has closed its case in the petition.
He said “What we did was not to waste the time of the court. We have examined all the evidence brought by the petitioner and our defence view that they have not made up case for us to answer.
“Like I said, not to waste the time of the court we decided to close up our case today”.
On his part, counsel for the 1st petitioner (Awara Biokpomabo), Emenike Ebete, said “This morning, the Independent National Electoral Commission was to present their witnesses to open their case. After yesterday (Tuesday) proceedings, it was their turn to open their case today (Wednesday) and we came to court, the INEC lawyer, after tendering some documents, announced to the court that he did not intend to call any witness and that they have closed their case”.
He said that, “It is his case, if he says he does not want to bring any witness to prove his case, we are okay.
Also speaking, co-counsel for Governor Wike, Dike Udenna, explained that “INEC is on top of its own game, it has looked at the evidence against it, and then come to the conclusion that there is really nothing against it, so, there is no point calling witnesses to deny when there is no allegation made against it.
“I think they are within their right to make that decision not to call witnesses, and there is nothing wrong with that, it is permissible under the law”.
He noted that, “The case has now been adjourned till Thursday for 2nd respondent that is Governor Nyesom Wike to open his own defence”.
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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.
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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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