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Amaechi Rejects N150m Offer From Gokana Council
Th Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, had turned down a N150 million offer from the Gokana local government area chairman, for the rural water project in the area.
The money, which was a voluntary contribution from the Gokana chairman to the state government, was meant for the actualisation of the Gokana water project for the 17 communities of the local government area.
Governor Amaechi who announced the return of the N150 million to the local government area’s coffers Saturday, said the decision which was made by the State Executive Council in their last sitting, was in recognition of the Chairman’s performance as one of the four best performing local government area chairmen in the state.
“As an honour for his efforts in the development of the council area, the State Executive Council had decided to fund the Gokana water project, and so the N150 million contribution from the council, is hereby returned to them”, Governor Amaechi said.
He used the occasion to call on other council chairmen to justify their election by embarking on projects that have direct bearing on the lives of their people and emulate the Gokana Loacl Government Chairman to deliver the dividends of democracy to the grassroots.
Governor Amaechi, who was in the Local government area for commissioning of projects executed by the council hinted that leaders seeking re-election must show their performance as a testimonial, and congratulated Chief Victor Giadom for the construction of an Ultra Modern market, roads and the Skills Acquisition Centre for the use of the people.
Governor Amaechi said his administration would continue to recognise and encourage the third-tier of government to deliver quality services to the people, stressing that more modern primary schools and health centres would be built in the state next year.
The State Chief Executive also used the opportunity to warn youths of the area, particularly those living around the Bodo axis, who engage in illegal bunkering, to desist from the act as security operatives would soon clamp down on them.
He explained that the illegal activities had polluted the waters around the area, and it would ultimately affect those engaged in fishing as a means of livelihood.
Speaking as Chairman at the reception, Justice Peter Akere (Rtd.), said the people were impressed with the leadership of Chief Victor Giadom especially with his quarterly rendering of accounts to the people and embarking on projects that touch more lives.
Justice Akere also urged the state governor to remain steadfast, courageous and focused because his administration has set a new agenda for infrastructural development in the state.
In his welcome address, the chairman of Gokana Local Government Area, Chief Victor Giadom, said the newly commissioned market has 300 shops and stores, complemented with facilities like sick bay, fire office, and toilets.
Chief Giadom also noted that his council has embarked on the training of 1,140 youths in various skills acquisition programmes to empower them to be self-employed and earn legitimate income, which was officially flagged off by the wife of the Governor, Lady Judith Amaechi.
The Gokana Local Government Chairman said the people of the area are satisfied with the policies and programmes of Governor Amaechi’s government and pledged their unalloyed loyalty to the present administration.
The State governor, accompanied by his wife, Dame Judith Amaechi, had earlier paid a courtesy visit on the Gberemene Gokana Kingdom, King Barnabas Bagia.
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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