News
We’ve Powers To Invite President, Anyone, Reps Blast AGF …As Buhari Shuns NASS
House of Representatives has vehemently refuted the claims by the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, that the National Assembly lacked powers to invite the President for questioning.
In what appeared like a rebuttal to the unsavoury comments that had apparently caused ripples and put the Legislative and the Executive arms of government at daggers drawn with each other, the House chided Malami, saying he was neither a part of the Presidency to have spoken for President Muhammadu Buhari nor a judge in the matter.
It would be recalled that on the account of a parliamentary resolution, December 1, the President was formally invited and scheduled to appear before the House, yesterday, to brief it on the vexatious lingering security fiasco that has been the country’s lot for ages now.
The invitation, however, came on the heels of the dastardly killing of over 43 rice farmers in Zarbamari village, Borno State, late November, 2020.
Briefing correspondents after yesterday’s plenary session, the Spokesman of the House, Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, insisted there was an official communication to the Speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila after his visit to the Presidential Villa, assuring that the President would honour the invitation.
Kalu, who is also the chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, hinted that it was possible that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may have prevailed on the president from coming.
He said that the House was yet to officially receive any communication from the president wherein it was expected that he would state his reasons for not coming.
Kalu said: “As you are aware when that motion was passed last week, it was rowdy because some members wanted the President to be there while some felt otherwise.
“But majority of the House took the mandate of their constituents, moved a resolution even against the position of the Speaker. If you were there, the Speaker struggled to make sure the House toe the line of using alternative approach to it. But the decision of the parliament overrides the presiding officers because to do otherwise will be bias and undemocratic.
“As a mark of honour, the leadership of the House sent a delegation, that’s the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and House Leader to engage the President beyond the resolution of the House. When they met with Mr President, he assured them that he will visit and address Nigerians. As the days went by, it was narrowed to Thursday.
“There were official communications from the Presidency committing to the position of Mr Speaker that the President has accepted to come. So, the Speaker and Deputy were not operating on the frolic of their own. It was backed up by the President. Up to that extent, we felt very honoured by Mr President.
“As you know what we operate is a democracy that’s hinged on party supremacy. Beyond the President lies the supremacy of the party. The President answers to the party. He’s there as President on the platform of the APC, given to him by the party. So, if he took a position as the President and his political party asks him to alter his position, if he’s truly a party man, he must oblige his party why the discussion goes on.
“We have constitutional powers to invite Buhari, anyone for information.
“All you’ve read about has been from unofficial sources. The question then becomes what’s the relevance of this visit? Many have been asking. Is it morally or legally right to have this engagement? Regarding whether it is constitutional to invite the President, somehow I would have said let’s leave the judicial interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution to be in the hands of the Judiciary, but as a lawyer, I can assure you the parliament did not act in error and this I say based on the Constitution.
“There’s a mandate and that mandate is well expressed on Section 88, 89 of the Constitution. The position of the law says that granted by Section 4 of the Armed Forces Act, the President is the chairman of Security Council. The Armed Forces Act is a piece of legislation made by the parliament. And it is the provision of 89 that we have the right to investigate issues bordering on anything we have the capacity to legislate on.
However, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday, employed unusual tact and deftly sidestepped a motion to discuss President Muhammadu Buhari’s volte-face on the parliament’s invitation to brief it on the escalating security situation in the country.
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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