News

Make Buhari’s Medical Status, Public -Group

Published

8 years ago

July 28, 2017

A civil rights organisation , United Global Resolve for Peace (UGRFP), has asked the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to call an emergency Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting and set up a medical committee to review President Muhammadu Buhari’s state of health.
National Secretary of the organisation, Pelumi Olajengbesi, said enough of photos of the president in the United Kingdom, saying what Nigerians want to hear and see is his true health status.
It would be recalled that Buhari, had last Wednesday, received seven state governors in London.
He said, “the current situation of our country as per the health status of Mr. President is just a demonstration that Nigeria as a nation is yet to evolve to be a country that is good enough or that has its leaders responsible enough to do things in line with the law. Ordinarily, the position of the Constitution, Section 144 and Section 145 is very clear in a situation like this .
“We sympathise with Mr. President, he has been going through a lot of medical and health challenges and the executive council is under duty by law to call for an executive council meeting and set up a medical committee to examine the state of the health of Mr. President.
“Position of the Constitution was not written in the desire of the president, it was written in the interest of the country, and the essence of this is to avoid vacuum in terms of leadership, governance and authority.
“So, we are saying to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the government that they should invoke this aspect of the Constitution, ensure that this committee is put in place.”
The organisation also gave the National Assembly a seven-day ultimatum to set up the committee , stat ing that failure to do this, the organisation would seek a court order which would compel the Senate and House of Representatives to comply with the Constitution.
“Ordinarily, we are having a meeting beyond this press conference at the level of our organisation, we might be thinking of getting an order from court to compel the Senate and House of Representatives to comply with Section 145 of the Constitution which says that in a situation where the health of Mr. President or vice president is unfit, that a committee should be put in place to examine the state of his health.
“Mr. President has been out of this country for some time now, and it is a demonstration that as a country, we are not developed enough to address our medical issues, and again, the president is also spending money.
“So, our position is that the Federal Government, the executive council, the vice president should call for an executive council meeting, a resolution should be passed to set up a committee.
“The committee should be set up in conjunction with the Senate, and the Senate should approve the decision of such an independent committee to know if the president is fit enough to govern the country.
“We have written a letter to the government, we have addressed the letter to the AG, and copied the SGF. We have also dropped a letter with the acting president, and we’ve given them seven days to respond.
“It is our intention that within these seven days, if the government refuses to comply with the position of the law, it is very simple. Though the court is on vacation but this is a matter of urgency, this is a matter of national importance.
“ We will approach the court through a process by seeking an order compelling all those who are in-charge of the management of laws of our land to comply with Section 145 to ensure that this committee is put in place and it will be addressed.
“When the president is sick, it doesn’t matter what we feel or the interest we have in him as our president, but what is important is that our country must move forward,” he added.

News

FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

Published

5 hours 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

6 hours 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

7 hours 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