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FG Promises Electricity Supply Increase

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The Minister of Power, Bayi Adelabu, has assured Nigerians there would be incremental power supply.
Adelabu, who spoke through his media aide, Bolaji Tunji, in an exclusive interview with The Tide’s source on Wednesday, appealed for calm, saying the power sector would soon receive a boost.
The minister‘s assurance comes on the heels of lingering low power supply and the collapse of the national grid on Sunday.
The source reports that the electricity supply in the country has worsened in the last one month.
Stakeholders in the sector blamed the low gas supply for the current outage.
“The blackout we have been experiencing is based on the fact that gas supply to the GenCos has reduced and that was due to indebtedness and the minister is looking into it.
“His concern is to ensure that we have more regular supply, incremental regular supply of electricity across the nation”, he stated.
According to Tunji, the Minister is not promising a miracle because the problems have been in existence over the years, but the government is ready to change the narratives.
“He is not promising a miracle, but he is saying that there should be incremental supply of electricity, and people would see there is improvement. This is not a problem that came overnight. It has been there over the years.
“But he is desirous of making an impact and changing the narratives. It is not that he wants to perform a miracle, but he wants to ensure that we have incremental energy supply across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria”, he said.
On when the situation would change, the media aide replied, “I won’t be able to commit to any particular time because this is not like a road construction. It takes planning and a lot of effort. For example, if you want to erect a tower or build a substation, you order the items needed and they are not what you can pick off the shelf.
“It is something that should be planned for. And like the minister had always said, what Nigerians need is to see improvements in power supply and that is the assurance he is giving, that there must be improvements. Definitely, we envisage an improvement”.
He added the lack of gas supplies had impacted power generation negatively, disclosing that a committee would be put in place to address the situation.
“If the DisCos are not supplying enough power, it is because they are not getting enough from the GenCos; and the GenCos could not give them enough because their production has been reduced, based on the fact that they have limited gas supplies.

“The minister is setting up a committee of all stakeholders to look at how to tackle this problem to ensure we don’t have this kind of situation again”, Tunji stated.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) 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, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
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.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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