News

Amaechi, Okorocha Destroying PDP – Makarfi

Published

9 years ago

March 1, 2017

The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) was at the point of crossing party lines, yesterday, after the Senator Ahmed Makarfi faction presented what it claimed to be damning evidence of the deep involvement of All Progressives Congress, (APC) in the affair.
The Makarfi’s faction, at a world press conference, named the Minister of Transportation Governor Rochas Okorocha of stirring the crisis by propping the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff faction through covert means.
However, Deputy National Chairman of the party, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, in an entreaty to the Makarfi faction, warned, yesterday, that the party stood the risk of losing the 2019 elections if the factions did not reconcile.
The offer nonetheless, supporters of the Makarfi faction, yesterday, staged a demonstration in front of the national secretariat of the party that was taken over by Sheriff last Thursday, chanting that Sheriff should wait for the Supreme Court decision on the crisis.
Against the background of the takeover of the national secretariat of the party by Sheriff last Thursday, spokesman of the Makarfi mainstream, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who addressed the press conference, said Senator Sheriff should wait for the conclusion of litigation on the leadership crisis in the party at the Supreme Court rather than take law into his hands by forcibly taking over the party headquarters.
Makarfi accuses Okorocha, Amaechi, Adeyeye, who accused the police and APC of working in tandem with Senator Sheriff to stifle the opposition, also named those he claimed to be facilitating the crisis.
“We have stated several times that the APC has its hand deep in the PDP crisis. There is no doubt that Sheriff’s activities against the PDP are being aided and abetted by the APC. “For the record, just last week, the Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, gave unsolicited advice that we should support Senator Sheriff.
“That is one instance of their meddlesomeness in the PDP affairs. There is no doubt that Okorocha and Co. are happy that their man won at the Appeal Court but very much afraid that he could lose at the Supreme Court. “Also, we have it on good authority that the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has deployed his former Abuja Liaison Officer who is a former Intermediate Officer of the party, Mr. John Enebeli, among others, to lure some members of staff in support of Senator Sheriff by promising them huge sums of money to offset their outstanding allowances.
Governor Okorocha’s spokesman, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, however, expressed his ignorance of the statement attributed to his principal, saying the PDP was in a meltdown and its officials had become so desperate and would hang on to anything for survival. Hon Amaechi’s spokesman, Dave Iyofor, also rebuffed the claims of the PDP faction, yesterday, saying: “Rotimi Amaechi is in APC, he does not know what is happening in PDP.
They should sort out whatever is there among themselves, and should leave him out of it, it doesn’t concern him.” Contacted on his alleged involvement, Mr. Enebeli, also said, “that is laughable, how can I do that? I am a full member of APC. So, how can I be wooing people to join another party, a party that is having their internal problems?”
Meanwhile, the Deputy National Chairman of the party, Dr. Ojougboh, has cautioned that the party stood the risk of losing the 2019 elections unless the two factions rallied towards one another.
Speaking to newsmen in a telephone interview, he said,”again, I will also like to say that in matters of this nature, if the PDP does not reconcile itself it should forget 2019.
“If they say that they are going to the mega party, we wish them luck, but we are remaining in PDP, and the PDP will be fragmented, and APC will have a field day. Because of their insistence and the way that they are behaving, they are the ones working for the opposition to divide the party.”
The same appeal also came from Gulak, who called on Makarfi and his supporters to stop blackmailing the Supreme Court.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, Gulak said the Supreme Court could not be stampeded into doing the biddings of Makarfi and his supporters.

News

FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

Published

2 days ago

September 19, 2025

The Tide

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.

News

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

Published

2 days ago

September 19, 2025

The Tide

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.

News

KenPoly Governing Council Decries Inadequate Power Supply, Poor Infrastructure On Campus

Published

2 days ago

September 19, 2025

The Tide

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