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Frank Urges NDDC Board To Release Forensic Audit Report
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has congratulated the newly inaugurated management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) led by Lauretta Onochie as chairman, and Mr. Samuel Ogbuku as managing director.
Frank, in a statement in Abuja, urged the new board to prioritise the interest and development of the Niger Delta region.
He reminded the board that NDDC should not be construed as an appendage of the ruling APC but a special purpose vehicle meant to ameliorate the sufferings of the people due to long years of neglect and environmental degradation brought about by the activities of oil exploration, production and spillage.
He, however, called on the new board to urgently make public the report of the forensic audit of the agency carried out last year for “the purpose of accountability, transparency and to set the tone for good corporate governance and zero tolerance for corruption under their watch.”
He also called on the board not to politicise the activities of the agency but rather to carry the communities and all critical stakeholders in the region, especially the youths, along throughout their tenure.
He lamented that despite the noble objectives for setting up the agency as clearly enunciated in the Act establishing the commission, past managements have turned the place to a cash cow for a few politicians both within and outside the region.
He described the newmanaging director of NDDC, as his friend, and urged him to bring his wealth of experience, professionalism and integrity to bare in the administration of the agency.
The Bayelsa-born political activist said: “As a friend, I will commend the agency if it stays true to its mandate under your tenure but I will not also fail to expose any iota of corruption or other forms of illegalities should I notice such in the commission going forward.
“I congratulate the new board and urge them to distance themselves from the predisposition of past leadership of the agency that turned the commission to a cesspit of corruption and rendered it comatose.
“The new board must demonstrate a clean break with the sordid past of the agency by urgently making the report, findings and recommendations of the forensic audit carried out last year in the agency public.
“The exercise was carried out with tax payers’ money and all Nigerians, especially the people of the Niger Delta, deserve to know why the agency became a personal estate for a few eggheads instead of the generality of the people of the Niger Delta region.
“Let the board know that some of us are critical stakeholders in the region. Our duty is to closely monitor the activities of the commission. If they do well we shall commend them. But if they neglect their duty and focus on illegalities we shall expose them.”
He called on the new board to equally probe the activities of the immediate past sole administrator of the agency, Mr Effiong Akwa and that of the last acting MD of the agency, Engr Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, who served for about two months before the inauguration of the substantive management.
Frank said: “Information at my disposal show that the last acting MD following the sack of Akwa allegedly awarded 38 contracts to few firms within a space of two months as well as spent a whopping N500million to purchase Christmas rice out of which not even a grain got to any household in the region.”
He also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to urgently investigate the tenure of the immediate past sole administrator and last acting MD of the commission who spent about two months.
He, however, warned that if the present administration failed to disclose the audit report and ensure that the indicted political leaders who connived to loot the resources of the region over the years are not prosecuted, the incoming PDP government will not spare anyone that partook in any form of illegality while managing the affairs of the agency.
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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