News

RVHA Rejects LG Autonomy …Votes For LG, Judiciary, Financial Autonomy

Published

11 years ago

December 17, 2014

Rivers State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon. Chuma C. Chinye (right) in handshake with Administrative Director, MCC, Mr Nelson Jaja (left) at the public presentation of the Yellow Pages Directory organised by Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Portr Harcourt. Photo: Egberi .A. Sampson

The Rivers State House of Assembly has rejected local government autonomy even as the National Union Local Government Employees (NULGE) protested and called for Local government autonomy.
The State Assembly yesterday voted on the alteration to the provision of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as it also rejected independent candidate in seeking for any elective office in the country.
The House which was presided by the Speaker, Rt. Hon Otelemaba Dan-Amachree also accorded and approved financial autonomy for state House of Assembly and judiciary across the country. It also approved pension for officers working in the state assembly.
It also voted in favour of section 45A, “Every citizen of the federal Republic of Nigeria is entitled to free education and right to health.”
Meanwhile, as the House was deliberating on the alteration of the constitution, NULGE, Rivers State chapter, carried out a peaceful protest to the state Assembly, appealing to the legislature to approve Local Government Council autonomy.
The State Deputy President of NULGE, Comrade Madighi Dickson who led the 23 local government councils to the temporary site of the assembly, said they came to request that the local government autonomy bill should be passed according to the wishes of the people.
According to him, “we came because we know that throughout the country, the States Assembly would make an alteration on the constitution today, (Tuesday) and they are requesting that autonomy should be granted to the local governments.
“We represent the 23 local government areas of Rivers State and we are here on a peaceful request, it’s not a demonstration or protest, we are aware that all over the states of Nigeria, they are passing the local government autonomy law today, we are here to request because we voted you to power, so we are requesting that the law be passed according to the wishes of Rivers people’’, he said.
Addressing the protesters, the Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assemble, Hon Leyii Kwanee said there was nothing wrong with what they were doing.
Kwanee said the legislature was in the middle of passing the fourth alteration of the bill and amendment of various sections of the constitution.
He reminded them that lawmakers were in the assembly on the mandate of the people and would be accountable to the people, assuring that he will convey their message to the house.
According to him, “I want to be part of the history making occasion. To be a party to those who amended the 1999 constitution’. For some of us who may not be returning to the house, we want to make the ultimate use of it. I assure that I will convey your positions to the house’’.
While deliberating on the matter in the House, Leader of the State house of Assembly, Hon. Chidi Lloyd had argued that local government autonomy will lead to instability of governance at the grassroots.
The House had voted against independence of local council based on an argument put forward by Hon. Lloyd that there will be arbitrary impeachments of council Chairmen by councilors, thereby leading to unstable governance.
According to Hon. Lloyd the framers of the Nigerian Constitution gave the State Assemblies power to monitor activities of local councils, and that such powers should be maintained to ensure stability.
Also, workers under the aegis of National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Ondo State yesterday walked out of the Ondo State House of Assembly following failure of the Members of the House of Assembly to pass the autonomy for Local Government.
The autonomy of the council workers is in clause 4th Alteration Bill to amend the 1999 Constitution. A protest was thereafter staged at the premises of the assembly complex. The workers sang solidarity songs and demanding that they be given autonomy. They also threatened to vote against the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the next election coming up in February 2015.
The Chairman of the ad hoc Committee on the Review of the Constitution, Hon. Afolabi Akinsiku, laid his report on the table and members did not debated or commented on it.
The Speaker Hon. Jumoke Akindele speaking on the matter said, “As a coronary to the motion that I should use my good offices to adopt the resolution of the members at the parliamentary session, we hereby adopt the decisions reached at the parliamentary meeting.”
After the speaker submission the House simply moved on to another business of the day but this irked the Local government workers who walked out. Efforts to speak with the Speaker after the plenary proved abortive as she was said to be attending another meeting.
But reacting to the development, the President of the Ondo Chapter of NULGE, Dr. Eni Ayewu, said there was no reason for the rejection of the autonomy clause by the house.
Ayewu said “Out of the 17 papers presented at the public hearing, only three were against autonomy for local governments, the others supported. So what is the basis for reaching that decision. This is not fair. They did not take the opinion of the people of the state into account. We shall meet in February.”

News

FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

Published

3 days ago

September 19, 2025

The Tide

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.

News

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

Published

3 days ago

September 19, 2025

The Tide

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.

News

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

Published

3 days ago

September 19, 2025

The Tide

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