News
Magu: Reps Challenge Presidency In Court
The House of Representatives has urged the Presidency to seek interpretation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act before a court, following the Senate’s rejection of Mr Ibrahim Magu as chairman.
The House also resolved that the executive should refrain from making statements that connote the usurpation of the judiciary’s powers considering its negative effects on the doctrine of separation of powers.
This followed a motion, yesterday, in Abuja, by Rep. Leo Ogor (Delta-PDP), on the “need to prevent erosion of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers”.
Moving the motion, Ogor explained that by the clear provision of Section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act, the chairman of the anti-corruption agency shall be nominated by the President subject to the confirmation of the Senate.
“Convinced that the EFCC Act is an Act of the National Assembly that can only be set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction, and until that happens, the law remains in force and binding on all persons and authorities in the country.
“Furthermore, the Executive Arm of Government has not filed any proceeding in any court to challenge the provision of Section 2 (3) of the EFCC (established) Act of 2004.”
Ogor said that under the doctrine of separation of powers, the interpretation of the Constitution and Acts of parliament was the sole responsibility of the judiciary and not that of any person or official of the other arms of government.
He said that the statement credited to Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, was capable of eroding the doctrine of separation of powers with its obvious implication of instituting a dictatorship in the country.
Contributing to the motion, Rep. Simon Arabo (Kaduna-APC), said that there was need by the executive to toe the line of separation of powers.
Also, Rep. Kingsley Chinda (Rivers-PDP), said that people should not continue to upgrade opinions to be actual facts.
“Government should be responsive and listen to the opinions of the masses,” he said.
The motion was unanimously adopted when it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.
The House, therefore, mandated its Committee on Legislative Compliance to ensure implementation of its resolution.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, yesterday, called on the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to prosecute the persons behind the assassination attack on Senator Dino Melaye.
The call is the outcome of a motion sponsored by Rep. Herman Hermbe (APC Benue) and unanimously adopted by the House.
Moving the motion, Hembe condemned the assassination attempt on his colleague and described the move as ‘needless.’
“It is condemnable that unknown men stormed Melaye’s residence on April 14, and shot sporadically at his building and cars for over an hour.
“Despite several calls to the Divisional Police Officer of Aiyetero Gbedde Police Division, the police did not come until the gunmen exhausted themselves and escaped.
“Melaye survived what appeared to have been an attempted assassination by the sheer grace of God,’’ Hembe said.
In his contribution to the debate on the motion, Rep. Solomon Ahwinahwi (PDP-Delta) said, “Dino must have said so many things, but it is not enough to kill him.
“I think there is need for us to invite the Inspector-General of Police to explain the circumstances surrounding the criminal act.”
On his part, Rep. Anayo Nnebe (PDP-Anambra), urged the Police to intensify efforts to stem cases of assassination in the country.
“We are all potential victims if the trend is not checked.
“Dino was lucky that the attack did not consume him; the next person may not be lucky,’’ Nnebe added.
The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, referred the motion to the House committees on Legislative Compliance and Police Affairs for further legislative action.
He urged members of the committees to report back to the House within four weeks.
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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