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Tribunal Didn’t Stop Me From Inspecting INEC Server -Atiku …Says Presidency’s Celebration, Premature
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has insisted that the presidential election tribunal did not prevent him from inspecting the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as speculated by some media reports.
Atiku, who expressed optimism in his ability to win in the tribunal, said that the tribunal only said the case has not reached the issue of server inspection yet.
The PDP candidate, in a statement, through his spokesperson, Paul Ibe, yesterday, said the tribunal only said the request was not relevant in the current stage of the case.
“The request by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party to inspect the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission was NOT rejected,” Ibe, said in the statement, in Abuja.
“What the honourable tribunal said is that it is still at preliminary stages, and the main case has not begun, and that the matter of granting access to inspect the INEC server is not relevant to the preliminary stages. It is a matter to be adjudicated upon when the case proper is being heard.”
The statement added that not only did Abubakar win the presidential election in February, “but that the administration of Gen Muhammadu Buhari lacks executive temperament and capacity as we will now establish.
“In their rush to claim a Pyrrhic victory, the Gen Buhari administration missed out the fact that the 2019 budget has multiple line items for procurement, maintenance and service of the server they claim does not exist.
“In the light of this, we remind those who are gloating in their ignorance that ‘he who laughs last, laughs best’, Ibe said.
“The last has not been heard of this matter and we eagerly anticipate the ACTUAL ruling of the Tribunal when the case proper begins”, he added.
It would be recalled that several INEC officials during the 2019 presidential election, had earlier reportedly claimed that they transmitted results electronically to a ‘central server’ through smart card readers.
The electronic transmission of the results were said to have been done in compliance with the directive given by the commission during a three-day training before the polls.
The officials, who were said to have worked as presiding officers, had claimed they were told that there was a central server in Abuja.
Meanwhile, political activist and former deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank has accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of resorting to harassment and blackmail of judges to do their bidding.
The activist, however, expressed confidence in the Supreme Court justices, saying the highest court remains a credible institution.
Reacting to the Appeal Court judgement which denied the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, access to inspect the computer server of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) used for the 2019 elections, Frank said in a statement, yesterday, in Abuja, that the Buhari government “has resorted to using various security agencies to openly intimidate some of the judges into doing its bidding”.
Frank cited media reports quoting the President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Paul Usoro, SAN, who declared that judges were afraid of performing their duties as expected due to fear and intimidation from the Executive arm of government.
The report quoted Usoro as saying: “Our judges are threatened, intimidated and blackmailed mostly by the Executive arm of government and their agencies both at the federal and state levels.
“Our judges cannot deliver justice under a climate of fear and intimidation. Justice thrives where and when there is an independent Judiciary.
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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