News
Tension In Imo, As Okorocha’s Son-In-Law Declares For Guber
Son in-law to Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, Mr. Uche Nwosu has reportedly declared to run for the 2019 gubernatorial election in the state.
Our correspondent gathered, yesterday in Owerri that Nwosu’s declaration took place at his country home, in Eziama Obire, Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo state.
This was even as a governorship aspirant, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, said that APC in the state, cannot be under the control of just one man.
While the Imo Deputy governor, Prince Eze Madumere was said to have insisted he would contest for the plum governorship position.
This is coming weeks after Okorocha said he was going to contest for Imo West Senatorial District, with the son in law contesting for governorship in 2019.
An arrangement, said did not go down well with the Deputy, as well as rejected the Senate offer. Insisting, he is in the race for the interest of Imo people.
The arrangement which did not go down well with the Deputy who rejected the Senate offer. insisting he was in the race for the interest of Imo people. It would be recalled that the drama started with an unrestricted endorsements by different groups for Nwosu as well as Madumere.
At a point, a planned endorsement for Nwosu, in Madumere’s local government area, Mbaitoli, was disrupted by scores of angry youths of the area, a scuffle which was said to have left some people injured. In another development, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, while speaking to his supporters at his Destiny Foundation office in Owerri, said that one man cannot control APC in the state.
According to Araraume, “No one man owns the party. The party belongs to all of you. And whatever will happen in Imo State, will be decided by you.
“There is no one man, no matter who the person is that owns this party. This party belongs to all of us. You must work hard to ensure that this party is strong in your area.
“There is no any other party that will win Imo State. Our President will be voted again to continue from 2019. So, no one man will decide what will happen in Imo.”
Recalling that, “When they were moving around telling people that they will change our elected executives and I told them that nobody can change our elected executives.
“That is not democracy, we are not in the period of dictatorship. We have long passed that, it is now history.”
Meanwhile, Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha has stated that God and 24 out of the 27 local government areas in the state support the ambition of his son-in-law to succeed him in office.
According to the governor, the opposition had seen his son-in-law as the aspirant to beat in the race to the State House, and now uses the church against the “project.”
His words: “We say this for posterity sake. Imo people, including youths, students, men and women have “thrown their unalloyed support behind” the youthful Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, for the 2019 governorship in the state.
“He has become the subject matter as long as that issue is concerned, with APC officials and leaders from 24 out of the 27 local governments in the state having already endorsed him for the 2019 Imo guber.
“Now, seeing Uche Nwosu as the guy to beat in the 2019 election, they now think that there is no other way to stop him than through unwarranted blackmail.
“That is the reason such a quintessential gentleman and an embodiment of decency should be associated with whatever that transpired at the event in question.”
News
FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

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

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
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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