Connect with us

News

Governor Diri Releases Counterpart Funds, Others For Bayelsa Primary Health Care Board

Published

on

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri has released part of the state counterpart funds for the Bayelsa state primary health care board,BSPHCB.

Speaking with The Tide on monday in Yenagoa, Executive Secretary of the board, Dr.Bekesu Amakepreye Martins said the Governor made part of the state counterpart funds available for the board due to the priority his prosperity Government placed on the health of Bayelsans.

Martins harped that even though the Corona virus disease has impacted adversely on governance world over,the first 100 days in office of Governor Diri has seen timely approvals and releases of funds for the running of the board.

The Executive Secretary who did not minced words in expressing appreciation to the Governor stated that through the provision of the said funds due the board by the Governor,the administrative heads and staff members of the board are now putting in their very best on delivering on the mandate given the board.

Dr.Martins gave details of the funds so far approved and released by the Governor within his first 100 days in office as funds for the National immunisation plus days,NIPD, funds for

the procurement of commodities and logistics to implement integrated medical outreach programme,IMOP.

Others released by the Governor within his first 100 days in office according to the executive Secretary include funds for the training of front line health care providers under the primary health care for training on Covid-19 preparedness and response.

The health care scribe also noted that outside these financial releases,the Governor has also demonstrated his magnanimity to the board like his predecessor under whose administration the board was established through his regularly releasing of #13,000,000M monthly to the state emergency routine immunization Coordinating centre, SERIC and other primary health care activities through the board.

“Governor Diri has done well for the primary health care board. He has released well over #20,000,000m for the board within his first one hundred days in office”, he said.

“He has also given us part of the state’s counterpart funds for primary health care and so our staff are not resting on their oars in making primary health care better across the eight  local government areas of the state”, he added.

“As we speak our staff in the board here and all the eight LGAs of the state are undergoing a two week training programme organised by the National primary health care board inconjunction with our board here in the state. The people from the national board are coming to supervise them and we’re also going to monitor their progress”, he stated.

Inset:Dr. Bekesu Martins, Executive secretary BSPHCB.

By Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa.

Continue Reading

News

FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

News

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

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

News

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

Published

on

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

Continue Reading

Trending