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PHALGA Set To Improve Revenue Collection

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The Port Harcourt City
Local Government Council says in order to beef up internally generated revenue, efforts are underway to deploy best practices in the collection of internally generated revenue while completely eliminating touting from the system.
Speaking with The Tide in an exclusive interview, the Mayor of Port Harcourt City, Samuel Sunny Ejekwu, said that his administration was set to operate a cashless system in the payment of taxes to curb corruption and eliminate miscreants, whose activities have adversely affected the revenue of the council.
He complained that since his administration, “there has not been any improvement in the internally generated revenue”, adding “rather it has been on the downward slide, which is the reason why members of this executive have taken a resolution to review the revenue policies of the council,” because according to him, “what we met on ground was not good enough”.
The mayor added that “the issue of beefing up internally generated revenue has been there over the years”, which he insisted, “the council is doing everything to address as quickly as possible.
“In our last executive council meeting, we passed a resolution which is intended to be implemented in a couple of weeks, and once implementation starts, I am very positive and strongly believe that our internally generated revenue would improve,” he pointed out.
Ejekwu said: “The good thing about the cashless policy in our new transaction model is that customers no longer need to handle cash or carry money to the council or to banks to pay in, but can use Point Of Sales (POS), Automated Teller Machines (ATM) or the Internet Banking platform to pay required taxes, fees, levies, permits, and the amount is debited from the customer’s account without necessarily paying cash to faceless agents and miscreants posing as task force members to fraudulently extort money from companies and individuals. Life is so simple now that investors would no longer complain of being duped by criminals or multiple taxation as everything is now being done transparently because of the best practices we are adopting.”
The mayor also stated that “although the Rivers State Government had harmonized taxes in the past, but the implementation has not been on a full-scale”, expressing confidence that “when full-scale implementation begins, it will be a win-win situation for all stakeholders”.
He also hinted that in order to attract investors, the caretaker administration has begun to reach out to some corporate bodies, noting that, “we are getting some positive responses, and we believe that they are supportive of our programmes and policies, and want to partner with us to achieve the sustainable development of the city”.

 

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) 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, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
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.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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