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Experts Set Agenda For NASS
Following what they described as the dismal performance of the 6th National Assembly to steer the country out of the woods, political scientists in the Rivers State University of Education have set a fresh agenda for the newly sworn-in legislators.
Speaking at a one day public lecture tagged, “The National Assembly and Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria” organised by the Department of Political Science in the university, the experts the need for the lawmakers to put the interest of the citizenry ahead of their own.
A Senior Lecturer in the University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Kenneth Aaron said one area that needed to be addressed by the lawmakers is their huge allowances and entitlements, which became a matter of controversy last year.
Dr. Aaron stressed that the legislators need to cut down on their expenses as it had become a drain on the country’s finances and thereby giving room to corruption in the system.
The senior lecturer said there was also need for the lawmakers to exercise their oversight functions as spelt out by the nation’s constitution. He contended that until the legislature asserts itself it would continue to be an adjunct of the executive arm.
Also, another lecturer in the university, Dr. Lyssius Gilbert harped on the need for separation of powers, stressing that the independence of the legislature was pertinent to grow the country’s fledling nascent democracy.
Dr. Gilbert contended that why the legislative is capable of asserting its independence, it would provide strong leadership for the country and at the same time create stability in the polity.
The University don argued that as a core organ of representative government, the lawmakers should concern themselves with the welfare of the people by enacting laws that would instill transparency and accountability amongst public officials.
In the same vein, another lecturer in the Department of History and Diplomatic Studies in the Rivers State University of Education, Mr. Emmiekene Dienye noted that one of the biggest shortcomings in the country was failure to checkmate activities of the executive.
Mr. Dienye cited the case of the inability of the National Assembly to fully study the ceding of Bakassi pennisula during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime to Cameroon.
Mr. Dienye emphasised that as long as the legislature continued to do the bidding of the executive, our democracy would be weakened and centralised.
He said the only way to reverse that trend was to elect men of integrity and honesty, as they would be capable to provide strong leadership to the law making body.
In the view of Dr. Godwin Fappa, the National Assembly must ensure some level of maturity and competency in the making of laws.
He frowned at the immaturity displayed by legislators during sitting, stressing that legislative chambers should not be made avenues of physical combat.
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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