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2015: Wike Apologies, Urges Amaechi To Contest For Presidency

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It was a touching moment when Rivers State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, did not only have his stewardship publicly appreciated but was also begged to act fast to rescue Nigeria from the dungeon by contesting the 2015 presidential election as the only panacea to the present sad state of affairs in the country.
The plea was made by the cousin of Chief Nyesom Wike and a leading light of the Rumuepirikom community, Barr. Tasie Wike, during Amaechi’s resumed Meet-the-People Tour of Obio Akpor Local Government Area in the state.
This request, according to Barr Wike, is borne out of the fact that Governor Amaechi has contributed immensely to the economic development of the state and the country in general and in view of his administration’s landmark achievements which speak for themselves.
Presenting his community’s address, Barr. Wike said: “We are convinced that despite the huge effort put in place by our detractors to run you down, history and providence will speak volumes of your track records of infrastructural development which are unprecedented in the annals of Rivers State, and indeed, Nigeria. We must sincerely commend and congratulate you for putting Rumuepirikom clan on the threshold of history of Rivers State – indeed Nigeria – in the elevation of our traditional stool and influencing the appointment of one of our sons as a Minister of State for Education in the person of Chief Nyesom Wike, as well as Chief Promise Onuoha and Chief Cyprian Chukwu as members of Rivers State Local Government Service Commission, not minding that none of these are members of APC and are now constituting themselves as nuisance and stumbling block to further developments of our community.
“Your other areas of intervention in our community include construction of the Ada-George Road, Epirikom/Rumuolumeni Road, Rumuepirikom Health Centre, Rumuepirikom Community Secondary School, Elioparanwo Primary School, among other great feats. All these notwithstanding, we wish to express our huge disappointment over our son, Chief Nyesom Wike, for failing to fix internal roads in our community while he was given 100 per cent on the contracts by the Amaechi-led administration to execute these road projects. It is worthy to recall that Rumuepirikom internal road network was awarded to Chief Nyesom Wike. Your Excellency, after we visited D/Line area of Port Harcourt and saw the internal road network constructed there, and compared them with what was done in our community by our own son, we wept. Our governor, there is need to revisit the slipshod construction done on our internal roads by Nyesom Wike. Imagine what a man has unleashed on his own community. What a dastardly act.”
Responding, Governor Amaechi thanked the people for their support, and assured them of more developmental projects, including the construction of Rumuagholu Road in Ward 7 and completion of Rumuomoi Road in Ward 12 as well as construction of Eliohani/Eneka Road in Ward 1.
The governor said: “I thank all of you for the opportunity to address you. It’s basically for the interest of Rivers State that we are here. There is no village in Rivers State you will go to that you won’t see either a model primary school or health centre that I built. It is our responsibility, not about politics. And if you like, you can vote APC or you can vote PDP or any other political party but to meet your needs is my responsibility. I am paid salary for it, and it is the reason for which I drive a free car, use free fuel, eat free food and enjoy free sleep.”
The communities visited by the governor and his team in the course of the week included Rumuepirikom, Eliparanwo, Rukpokwu, Eneka, Rukpakwolusi, Eligbolo, Awalama, Rumuagholu, Elieke, Ekinigbo, Orosi, Rumuadaolu, Rumuola, Rumuokwuta, Oroigwe, Rumunduru, Eliozu, and Elimgbu, among others, al in wards 9, 1, 12, 7 and 13.
In Amaechi’s team during the tour were members of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dakuku Peterside; Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke; Majority Leader, state House of Assembly, Hon Chidi Lloyd; the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Sir Tony Okocha; the Rivers State APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ikanya; Obio/Akpor CTC Chairman, Lawrence Chukwu, among others.
Chief of Staff, Chief Tony Okocha, in a symbolic gesture led the team to walk the one-kilometre route to the venue of the event from Chief Nyesom Wike’s family compound.
He described the successful outing in Wike’s community as the fall of the wall of Jerico and collapse of whatever maybe the myth or political power base of the junior minister.
It would be recalled that Governor Amaechi had suspended the tour on 13th August, 2014 in honour of the erstwhile Mayor of Port Harcourt, Hon. Charles Paul Ejekwu, who died that day, even as PDP thugs attacked APC supporters mobilising to receive the governor.

Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi (right) consolling the wife of late Port Harcourt City Local Government  CTC Chairman , Hon Charles Paul Ejekwu, during the funeral service at St Thomas Anglican Church, Diobu, last Saturday

Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi (right) consolling the wife of late Port Harcourt City Local Government CTC Chairman , Hon Charles Paul Ejekwu, during the funeral service at St Thomas Anglican Church, Diobu, last Saturday

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FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

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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.

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FAAC Disburses N2.225trn For August, Highest In Nigeria

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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

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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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