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Wike Accuses Police Of Supporting Instigators Of Political Disturbances In Rivers …Says Dakuku Peterside Is A Shameless Politician
Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, says the State government will be compelled to deploy its Neighbourhood Watch Safety Corps to maintain law and order if the Nigeria Police continue to support some political parties to instigate violence in the State.
He noted with dismay the levels of encouragement that the Rivers State Police Command has continued to give to some political actors to act lawlessly with their political activities.
Speaking at the Rivers State PDP campaign rally held at the State Primary School in Elekahia, Port Harcourt last Wednesday, Governor Wike said the command cannot afford to support people who are breaking the law.
The governor, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, advised the State Police Command to rise to the occasion and safeguard the laws of the State in order to forestall a break down of law and order.
According to him, if the command refuses, his administration will be compelled to direct officers of the Rivers State Neighborhood Watch Safety Corps to step in and ensure that the laws of the State are obeyed.
“And this is what I want to tell the Nigerian Police, Rivers State Command. You are the one supporting them to disobey the law to cause violence. Police, if you don’t want to do your duty, let us know. I will release our Neighborhood Watch Safety Corps instead.
“If you don’t do your work, we will take over your work from you. You cannot support people who are breaking the law. You know the truth of the matter. You are scared, so that they don’t transfer you. Your duty is not to be permanent anywhere. As far as you are a security man you can be sent to anywhere, any day”, he said.
Governor Wike accused some political actors of disobeying the statutory laws of the State and yet alleging that they are being stopped from campaigning.
The governor said nobody is stopping any political group from campaigning, but if such political campaigns must be done within any public facility, then the required non-refundable security fee of N5M must be paid.
He said, “If you want to use a school facility, if you want to use our stadium, you’ll pay certain amount of money so that if you destroy anything, government will be in a position to use that money and rebuild whatever you have damaged. And they say they will not pay.”
Categorically, the governor insisted: “We as PDP (Peoples Democratic Party), we are in government, yet we are obeying the law. As we use here, we have paid the money to government coffer. How dare you, all these small, small associations. How dare to say you will not obey the law. If you don’t pay, we will resist you.”
Governor Wike recalled that these same people who are now crying foul were among those who used the military during the 2019 general election to scuttle the will of the people of Rivers State, but were fiercely resisted by the people.
“Look at people crying now. They forget how they were using the military then. Was it not here when the military came to carry the ballot papers and results. Is it not here? They forgot how the military took over all collation centres to take away the materials if not because you stood firm.
“Now, they’re opening their dirty mouths because we abide by the rule of law. Tell them not to push us to the wall. If you don’t want to obey the law, you’ll face the consequences of it.”
Governor Wike also took a swipe at the former Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, whom he described as a political neophyte, for daring him to name his preferred presidential candidate.
“Shameless politician. You had a position, yet you cannot help your people. You’re coming out to open your mouth simply because they did not give you second term to be the DG of NIMASA. You have guts to tell me I should name my presidential candidate. Are we at the same level. Failure and success, are they the same?”, he said.
The governor added, “And let me also tell him (Peterside), he does not understand the activities of G-5. I have told most people who don’t know, this fight we are fighting is like a gourriella warfare. The more you look, the less you see.”
Rivers State governorship candidate of the PDP, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, who pleaded with the people of Port Harcourt to demonstrate their love for governor Wike by voting massively for PDP consolidation team, said he has been well nurtured to be a performing governor.
Fubara insisted that a vote for him means continuity and consolidation of the development trajectory of Governor Wike that has made Port Harcourt emerge as the best city in Nigeria under his leadership.
According to him, massive vote from voters in Port Harcourt will serve as a bold statement of support for him and the consolidation team, which will eventually shame Rivers politicians in Abuja for the betrayal role they have chosen to play.
In his speech, member of the Federal House of Representatives, Ken Chikere, said the people of PHALGA were ready and determined to deliver all PDP candidates at the polls.
The Chairman of PDP in Rivers State, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, presented the flag of the party to the candidates of the party contesting various positions in the area.
Before going to the venue of the campaign flag-off rally, Governor Wike and some chieftains of PDP stopped by at the palace of Eze Uche Isaiah Elikwu, the Eze Epara Rebisi XII, for a courtesy visit, wherein he introduced Sir. Siminialayi Fubara as the governorship candidate of the party.
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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