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Saraki Explodes Over Police Invasion Of Dino Melaye’s House
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has described the invasion of the Abuja home of Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District, as another instance of police being used to suppress the rights of the citizenry and silencing people with opposing views to the current administration.
Saraki in a statement last Saturday signed by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Yusuph Olaniyonu, noted that a situation where the police invaded the home of a Nigerian lawmaker, interfered with the supply of electricity and water to the house, beat up and cuffed his domestic staff and disturbed the peace of his neighbours by claiming he allegedly committed an offence in July was unacceptable.
He said the timing of the invasion and the desperate attempt to arrest the Senator is suspicious as the man had raised an alarm a few days before his house was invaded that there was an attempt by the police to get hold of him and inflict injury on his person, an allegation that was denied by the police.
“The general belief now is that the Police action against Senator Melaye was aimed at keeping him out of circulation so that he would not participate in the general elections coming in February. The manner of invasion on his house is highly suspicious. This same man has been charged with sundry and needless allegations and he has attended the various court sessions. He is also a candidate in the coming elections and, therefore, has, no reason to run away from the country.
“He was also present in the Senate for plenary, committee meetings and oversight functions till the Senate went on recess on December 20, 2018. Though the police in their statement claim that there was a request to the Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA) inviting Senator Melaye to report to the police, my enquiry from the CNA showed that he had no such letter.
“If there was an offence allegedly committed in July and the police waited till now, we do not see the urgency in the need to arrest him about six weeks to the election in which he is a candidate. He could have been invited to report to the police on Monday. This desperation to haul him in is beyond normal. This same IGP who refused to honour the invitation of the Senate for him to give information on the security situation in the country and rushed to the court to seek protection of his rights is now violating the rights of other people. In the same manner, a Senate resolution to the effect that his security personnel that were withdrawn should be reinstated has not been obeyed.
“It has not gone without notice that Senator Melaye is a member of the opposition. We cannot remember any member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) being treated in this manner. Even the one who allegedly led thugs to forcefully seize the mace while Senate was in session, in the full glare of television camera, is still roaming the streets free without prosecution.
“This method of digging out some old charges and allegations to arrest and incarcerate political opponents has presented this current Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Kpotum Idris, as the most partisan head of the Nigerian Police ever in the history of this country. We have continued to call on the security agencies to steer clear of partisanship and be professional in their activities.
“This country is not a banana country. Nobody is saying the police should not do their work in the prevention of crime and enforcement of laws”.
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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