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Ekiti Guber: Don’t Disappoint Voters, IPAC Tells INEC …Commission Distributes Sensitive Materials To Area Councils …As Election Holds, ‘Morrow
The Inter Advisory Council (IPAC) has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a transparent governorship election in Ekiti State, on June 18.
In a statement, yesterday, IPAC’s National Chairman, Yabaji Sani, noted that the poll would be a litmus test for INEC on the veracity of administrative reforms and technological innovations introduced recently geared towards delivering free and fair elections.
He said: “Very pertinently, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must give hope to the people of Ekiti, the rest of the nation and the world at large, that, the era of daylight robbery of the people’s right to choose their representatives is over in Nigeria.
“To us in IPAC, Ekiti 2022 is a litmus test to INEC on the veracity and integrity of the otherwise, commendable administrative reforms and technological innovations introduced recently by the commission with the lofty goals of delivering credible and transparently free and fair elections.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that, INEC cannot afford and must not, fail in the attainment of the noble goals.”
Sani, who is also the presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), cautioned politicians against deploying thugs and engaging in vote buying.
“The political party leaders and candidates in the election must resist the temptation, out of desperation, to resort to the deployment of thugs or material and financial inducement of security agents and INEC officials to compromise any stage in the voting process,” he said.
He extended his appeal to security personnel, advising them to remain neutral and to man sensitive areas to avoid ballot box snatching.
“We are also very stridently appealing to the security agencies and their operatives engaged to provide security during the election to embark on their assignment with maximum professional and ethical standards,” he said.
To the electorate, he said: “The message from IPAC is that, they must resist all attempts to deceive, intimidate or induce them into compromising their fundamental, inalienable right to freely elect the political leaders of their choice.”
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, commenced distribution of sensitive materials for Saturday’s Governorship Election in Ekiti.
The materials were distributed at the INEC State Office in Ado Ekiti in the presence of journalists, political parties and security agents to the electoral officers across the 16 local government areas of the state.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Adeniran Tella, who distributed the materials, said the electoral officers would take the items to their councils where they would be sent to the polling units on Saturday morning.
He gave assurance that there would be no late arrival of materials to polling units on Election Day.
Tella said that the ballot papers were coded in different colours for each local government in order to prevent electoral fraud.
He added that the result sheets were also customised according to each polling unit.
Some of the party agents at the centre lauded INEC for the transparent manner in which the materials were distributed.
Some of the materials distributed were: Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS) machines, Ballot papers, Result sheets, Booklets, Forms EC 8A, B, C, D,E, forms EC 4zero G, 4 zero G1 and 2.
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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