News
We’ll Pass PIB In Host Communities, Interest, Reps Assure
The House of Representatives says it will pass a more holistic Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that will encompass interests of host communities and fiscal regulation of the oil industry.
Chairman of the House Committee, Petroleum Upstream, Hon Victor Nwokolo (Delta-PDP), stated this, yesterday, while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a workshop organised by the committee for House members on the bill.
Nwokolo said that the lower chamber of the National Assembly would begin the consideration of the bill in a few days and that it would be given accelerated hearing.
He explained that the bill recently passed by the Senate was only one-third of the entirety of the document before the national assembly.
According to the lawmaker, the committee decided to organise the workshop to bring the lawmakers up-to-date on what the house has done in respect of the PIB in the past.
He said, “The bill has gone through first reading and by next week, it will go through second reading and will be given accelerated attention that it requires.
“It is true, like you said, it has been passed in the Senate, but what the Senate has done, they have only taken a fraction of it, only one-third of it; what is referred to as the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) is what they have passed.
“But, in the case of the House of Representatives, we are taking it holistically.
“Like you read in the newspapers, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and Ijaw National Congress (INC) say that they do not agree with what the Senate has done, because the issue of host communities has not been addressed.
“If you are also following the proceedings in the House of Representatives, you will agree with me that we are taking it holistically, because we have dealt with the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB).
“We have also gone through the fiscal and the host community bill, so, we are taking it holistically, so that no section of it will be left out,” he explained.
Nwokolo explained that the House resolved to treating the bill holistically in consideration of what had happened and what was obtainable in other parts of the globe where petroleum was a natural resource.
He listed Alaska, Mexico and Venezuela as some of the countries the House used as case study, where host communities were all stakeholders.
He said, “Coming home here, look at the case of the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG). Have you ever heard that NLNG is being shut down for a day?
“The basic reason is because they have taken care of the host community; this is what we want to address.
“The essence of this workshop is to broaden members’ knowledge for them to go home to begin to think; this contentious issue of host community is it going to be restricted to oil-producing communities?
“When you are talking about mineral resources today, it is not only petroleum we are talking about.
“By the grace of God, the government is trying to give a drive towards other mineral resources like coal that you find in Plateau, Kogi and other areas.
“So, when you talk about host communities, it is going to be applicable to all parts of the country so that it will not be seen as empowering only Niger Delta region or oil-producing communities again.”
The lawmaker, therefore, urged the media to take the right information about host communities to Nigerians.
“We thank God that you journalists are here in your numbers; you will help us to pass the information to Nigerians, because they have a different view when you are talking about host communities.
“So, what we are doing here today is to refresh members so that by the time we start discussing the bill, it will move faster than we expect.
“This is because it has been three or four weeks since it went through the first reading,” he said.
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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