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Fayose Hails Saraki’s CCT Triumph
The Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has described the triumph of the Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) as another victory of Nigerians over tyranny, saying; “I am happy that I predicted that the CCT will absolve the Senate president in my 2017 predictions, and it has come to pass.”
Fayose, who drew the attention of Nigerians to number eight of his 22 predictions for year 2017, said; “I said it categorically that the Code of Conduct Tribunal will absolve Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and today, the prediction came to pass.”
Reacting to the CCT judgment discharging Saraki in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor said the judgment was another lesson for the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government that criminal cases are not won on the pages of newspapers.
He congratulated the Senate president, urging him to see the victory as a challenge to him and the entire members of the National Assembly to always stand up to defend the rule of law and fundamental rights of Nigerians.
The governor said, “I have maintained that the government of President Buhari is not fighting any corruption. Rather, what is being done is hiding under anti-corruption fight to persecute, humiliate, harass and malign perceived political enemies.
“They go about trying their perceived political foes in the media, with the aim of destroying their names when they do not have any evidence that can sustain court trial, and it is for this reason that they have been losing corruption cases.
“Look at all the noise they made when they started Senator Saraki’s case, it was as if he will be sent to jail the following week. But when it was time for them to prove their allegations, they could not.
“Even the case of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), that they said stole $2.1billion arms money, and that destructive weapons capable of disrupting the peace of any city in Nigeria were found in his possession, why are they the ones seeking for secret trial while Dasuki that they accused is insisting on open trial?
“Up till today, they have not brought any evidence against Dasuki. They have not even been able to commence his trial. Instead, they have continually disobeyed court orders that he should be released from detention.”
Meanwhile, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has denied reports that he bribed Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar to the tune of $2million to obtain victory in his ruling, Wednesday.
Recall that the Code of Conduct Tribunal sitting in Abuja, last Wednesday, ruled that Saraki has no case to answer in the 18-charge of non-declaration of assets brought against him by the Federal Government.
The judgement has generated a lot of controversies and comments from Nigerians.
However, an report by an online news outlet, SaharaReporters, alleged that a cash payment of a whopping $2 million went to CCT Chairman, Danladi Umar.
The newspaper claimed that a source close to the CCT revealed to them how Saraki and his lawyer, former Attorney General Kanu Agabi, had worked relentlessly since Saraki hired him, with the objective of stopping the trial one way or another.
It alleged that Agabi had formed a close relationship with Umar, whom he had hired out of Law School years ago to work in his private legal practice following his tenure as Attorney General of the Federation, AGF.
It further alleged that Umar’s brother, Sambo Umar, also worked with Agabi during his tenure as AGF.
Also alleging that a first meeting facilitated by former Governor of Bauchi state, Isa Yuguda in Abuja, Saraki reportedly offered the CCT chairman $2m to acquit him of the false declaration charges he faced.
The newspaper added that Saraki did not speak the words during the alleged transaction but showed the figure to Mr. Umar typed on his phone, fearing that if he said the figure out loud he could be recorded.
Reacting, however, Saraki’s media aide, Bankole Omishore, told DAILYPOST that Chief Editor and owner of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore came up with the allegation after his demand of $1 million from his principal was turned down.
According to him, “That guy [Sowore] is a liar! That’s how he goes about causing confusions here and there with fake, indefensible reports.
“He told Saraki to give him $1million which the senate President didn’t understand why he should give him such amount of money and what it was meant for.
“Refusal to give him $1million led him to publishing reports he cannot defend. If he has anything tangible to back up his claims, let him present it to the appropriate quarters.”
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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