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Wike Justifies Prosecution Of Amaechi, Others

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Governor Nyesom Wike has justified the Rivers State Government’s prosecution of former governor of the state, Chibuike Amaechi, Arc Tonye Cole and his former Commissioner for Power, Augustine Wokocha.
Wike said that the prosecution was designed to recover the $50million diverted from the state’s account to Sahara Energy, owned by Cole, when Amaechi was governor and Wokocha was commissioner for power.
Wike made the clarification during a rally of All Rivers Youths Forum held at the Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt, yesterday.
The Rivers State governor told the teeming youths that as part of effort to recover the looted funds, the state government has commenced the prosecution of Amaechi, Cole and Wokocha in court.
Wike told the youths that Amaechi had in 2014 surreptitiously sold Rivers State Government assets, including the gas turbine power stations built by the Dr Peter Odili’s administration to Cole’s company, Sahara Energy, at the sum of $308million.
The money, he said, was paid in December 2014, but by the time he assumed office on May 29, 2015, what was left in the account of the state government in Access Bank was $308,000.
Until date, he said, Amaechi has been unable to account for the balance of $307,692,000.00 being proceeds from the sales of the turbines.
Curiously too, under Amaechi’s watch, he said, the sum of $50million was transferred from Rivers State Government in Access Bank account to Sahara Energy.
The governor said that it was for these reasons that Amaechi was being prosecuted with Cole.
Wike assured the youths that he would personally ensure that they benefit immensely from the recruitment of 10,000 Rivers indigenes into the State Civil Service.
To this end, he said he has directed the leadership of the National Youth Council chapter in the state to submit a comprehensive list of Rivers youths who desire to work in the civil service.
The governor, who enumerated several projects executed in all the 23 local government areas of the state, charged the youths to vote wisely for the continuation and consolidation of the development strides of his administration.
Wike announced the donation of the sum of N500million to the National Youth Council of Nigeria for the building of its secretariat in Rivers State.
The convener of the rally, Chief Tony Okocha, said the youths were impressed with Wike’s sterling performance in office.
On his part, the Chairman, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Rivers State chapter, Chijioke Ihunwo, also assured the governor that Rivers youths have resolved to use their votes wisely on Saturday.
He declared that no Rivers youth would waste his or her vote on any stranger contesting for the office of the governor of Rivers State.

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FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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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