News
Guber Poll: Tension In Imo, Sokoto As S’Court Delivers Judgment, Today
There is palpable tension in both Imo and Sokoto states as the apex court announced that it would deliver judgment on the petitions against the declaration of Emeka Ihedioha, as the governor of Imo State and Aminu Tambuwal as governor of Sokoto State by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), today.
While members of the Peoples Democratic Party are upbeat that the Supreme Court would uphold Ihedioha and Tambuwal’s victories, members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) are hopeful that the judgment would go in their favour.
The Director of Imo Orientation Agency, Martin Opara, told our correspondent that there was no cause for alarm despite the tension, expressing optimism that the apex court would uphold the governor’s election.
He said that the declaration of Ihedioha as governor was in tandem with the Electoral Act as against the position of the petitioners.
Opara said “there is no cause for alarm. The governor will win at the Supreme Court as he won at the tribunal and the Court of Appeal, respectively. This is a governor that was voted by the majority of our people.”
But the APC Chairman in the state, Daniel Nwafor, said that he was hopeful that the judgment would go in favour of his party.
However, in order to check excesses of criminal elements who might want to take advantage of the situation to loot, the state police command has deployed well over 1, 000 combat policemen to strategic locations across the state capital, and other vulnerable areas.
Similarly, no fewer than 1,000 police personnel, including plain clothed officials, have been deployed by the Sokoto State Police Command across the state ahead of today’s Supreme Court ruling on the appeal by the Sokoto State governorship candidate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Sokoto on the 2019 general and rerun polls.
The development was disclosed, yesterday in Sokoto by the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Kaoje.
He said the measure was to ensure peace reigns before and after the ruling.
Ka’oje explained that the command would focus on the Sokoto metropolis and its environs as well as on some strategic locations within their environs.
“We are on a 24-hour red alert and we are on standby, round the clock, 24/7. We will not waiver in our sustained routine and surprise tactics to keep the peace.
“We will leave no stone upturned in keeping the state safe and secure, for all the law abiding residents to conduct their lawful businesses,” the police boss assured.
He vowed the strategy would be maintained until further notice, in line with the recent directive issued by the Inspector General of Police ( IGP), on a 24-hour, nationwide red alert.
He further expressed delight that zero-violence was witnessed during last Friday’s congregational prayers across the state.
“The massive deployment of our officers and men has by the special grace of God, paid off and we will not relent in our efforts.
“This is to ward off any unpatriotic persons from breaching the peace, as well as the unrepentant criminals,” the CP, added.
The APC candidate had dragged Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the Supreme Court over his re-election.
He challenged the judgements of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and that of the Appeal Court that all dismissed his petitions, for lack of merit.
The Tribunal and Appeal Court had dismissed APC’s petition for lacking in merits on October 2, and November 22, 2019, respectively.
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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