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RSG Blasts Dakuku Over Comment On Gov

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The Rivers State Government has dismissed, with a wave of the hands, the fresh antics by Dakuku Peterside, describing it as the ‘usual disgraceful dance to seek relevance’.
In a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, yesterday, in Port Harcourt, the government said, “As usual, we were amused by the lame effort by the 2015 defunct Rivers State APC Governorship Candidate, Dr Dakuku Peterside, to seek political relevance through a jaundiced interpretation of a mischievously edited video of the interaction between Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike and esteemed Traditional Rulers of Rivers State.
“Dakuku Peterside and his faction of the defunct All Progressives Congress (APC) procured a video of an engagement that lasted for over one hour and lifted different aspects of the response of Governor Wike to mislead members of the public.
“Wike was responding frankly to the address of the chairman of the Rivers State Council of the Rulers wherein the Chairman requested that non-recognised traditional rulers should be checked by the Rivers State governor.
“The governor directed the Attorney General of Rivers State to prepare an Executive Bill to resolve the issue raised by chairman of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers.
“He went ahead to urge the traditional rulers to always attend government functions with the official Staff of Office handed over to them by the Rivers State Government, following the formal request by the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers.
“At this point, there was general applause and Governor Wike reminded those clapping that he was simply doing what is right.
“For Dakuku Peterside to attempt to use a frank discussion between the Rivers State governor and the esteemed traditional rulers of Rivers State to seek relevance is a confirmation of the total rejection that he suffers alongside members of his defunct political party.
“As a political toddler, who is being breastfed politically, Dakuku Peterside still relies on mischief to remain relevant. He goes about paying social media cheerleaders to cast aspersion on the Rivers State governor on the premise of a manipulated video.
“We understand Dakuku Peterside’s frustration following the painful defeat he suffered in 2015. But he cannot climb the political ladder on the premise of needless falsehood and mischief.
”Rather than this dance of shame he should redirect his energy on how to rebuild the disintegrated APC family in the state.
“Dakuku Peterside can be likened to a man chasing rats while his house is on fire. There are so many factions in Rivers State. Instead of Dakuku Peterside to address this shameful issue, he is sniffing around paying for videos of the official engagements of Governor Wike.
“Thank God they have accepted that Governor Wike is the best performing governor in the country and are now concentrating their wasted energy on backyard gossip.
”Dakuku and his co-travellers should know that Governor Wike has very high regards for the traditional institution and will never do anything to denigrate them”, the statement added.

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FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

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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.

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FAAC Disburses N2.225trn For August, Highest In Nigeria

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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.

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KenPoly Governing Council Decries Inadequate Power Supply, Poor Infrastructure On Campus

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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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