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RSG Ban On Open Grazing Bill Gets Exco Approval
The Rivers State Executive Council has approved the proposed bill that will give legal backing to the ban on open rearing and grazing of livestock in the state.
The endorsement was made at its meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt, which was presided over by Governor Nyesom Wike, last Wednesday.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, last Wednesday, the Attorney General of the State and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor (SAN) said it was impossible for the state to enforce the resolution of the Southern Nigeria Governors’ Forum on the ban on open rearing and grazing of livestock without an enabling law.
According to him, the office of the Attorney General of the State did a draft of the legal instrument, which has been adopted by the council.
“You will all recall that on the May 11, 2021, the Southern Nigeria Governors’ Forum met in Asaba, and in that crucial meeting, adopted series of resolutions, most critical of it was that open rearing and grazing of cattle would remain banned throughout Southern Nigeria. The Governor of Rivers State was part of that meeting.
“But we realised that we don’t have any extant law criminalising or prohibiting open grazing. And so, it has become necessary for the Office of the Attorney General of Rivers State to propose a bill for consideration by the State Executive Council.
“That bill came up before council for deliberation. And after exhaustive deliberation and discussion of the highlights of that bill, the same was approved by council for onward transmission to the Rivers State House of Assembly for necessary legislative action.”
Adangor said when the bill is passed into and assented to by the state governor, open grazing of livestock would be criminalised and prohibited in any part of the state.
“Now, when that bill is passed into law, it will criminalise, prohibit open rearing or grazing of livestock in Rivers State. If you look at that bill, it is divided into four parts.
“The first part deals with the objectives of the bill; that is what the bill intends to achieve and then also deals with the establishment of the state and local government livestock and ranch administration and control committees.”
Adangor explained that livestock rearing activities will only be permitted within the precinct of a ranch and such ranch would have been certified by the state government.
“The second part of the bill deals with establishment of ranches and issuance of ranching permit. Third part deals with prohibition of open rearing and grazing of livestock offences and penalties therefor.
“The final part of the bill deals with miscellaneous provisions, including power to arrest, detain and impound trespassing livestock and the jurisdiction of the court to try offences.
“In summary, once that bill is passed, no person will be allowed to openly graze livestock in Rivers State, except within the confines of a ranch. And to establish a ranch you must apply to the state committee for approval. And that committee having regard to the guidelines it is going to issue, may or may not issue approval to establish a ranch.”
He also said that council approved proposed Rivers State Residence Registration Agency Bill that will make it mandatory for residents of the state to be registered, including any visitor staying in the state beyond two weeks.
“We thought that it is necessary for Rivers State Government to have a bill that will require mandatory registration of all residents in Rivers State. In other words, that bill makes provision for mandatory registration by every person who lives and does business in Rivers State.
“That bill is going to establish an agency that will superintendent the implementation of that bill. So, if you come to Rivers State, and you are going to stay in the state for a period of more than two weeks, you will be bound to register.
“Of course, you can register in person or register electronically. And if you fail to register, that constitute an offence under the bill when passed into law.”
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Fred Kpakol, also addressed the journalists, and said that council approved the construction of a modern abattoir at Mgbuosimini in Rumuolumeni of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, the new abattoir will be an integrated facility sitting on a 21 plots of land by the seashore and provide healthier beef for Rivers residents.
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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