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Reps Want Experts To Destroy Illegal Refineries

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The House of Representatives on Tuesday mandated its joint committees to interface with relevant security agencies in the destruction of illegal refineries.
The committees are Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream), Environment, Habitat, Army, Navy, Interior, Niger Delta and Legislative Compliance.
The committees and security agencies would ensure that officials of relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were involved in the process of destroying illegal refineries and boats laden with petroleum products in the country.
This followed a motion by Rep. Owoidighe Ekpoattai (Akwa/Ibom-PDP) on the “need for security agencies to involve experts in the destruction of illegal refineries and boats laden with petroleum products to prevent environmental degradation.”
Moving the motion, Ekpoattai said the process would guarantee retrieval of stolen crude oil, avoid spillage, either on land or water as well as minimise economic losses and avoid pollution and degradation of the environment.
She explained that the increase in illegal oil refineries in the creeks of the Niger Delta had become alarming.
The lawmaker said that the development had also added a new twist to the economic and security challenges confronting the nation.
Ekpoattai explained that the quest to acquire crude oil illegally by non-professionals was devastating the environment, destroying wild and aquatic lives as well as stunting the economic development of the nation.
According to her, this has resulted in an estimated loss of 10.9 billion dollars between 2009 and 2011.
“Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that the State shall protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air, land, forest and wildlife of Nigeria.
”While Section 2 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, Cap E12, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 also provides for restriction on public or private projects without prior consideration of their impact or effects on the environment,’’ she said.
She emphasised that in a bid to curb the menace of illegal refineries, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy had collectively destroyed at least 280 illegal refineries.
The lawmaker added that they had collectively destroyed barges loaded with petroleum products and secured the conviction of 40 perpetrators out of the 118 arrests made in the last one year in the Niger Delta region.
Ekpoattai expressed concern that in spite of the commendable efforts of the various security agencies to curb the menace of illegal refineries, the methods adopted in the destruction of those refineries endangered the environment of the region.
She said it also had negative effect on the general health and well-being of the people because of wastes emanating from the destroyed refineries and barges washed into the creeks and the ocean.
According to her, failure by security agents to involve experts in carrying out the destruction of the refineries poses environmental hazards just as the existence and operation of those illegal refineries themselves.
Supporting the motion, Rep. Henry Ofongo (Bayelsa-PDP) said that soldiers, who were not experts in engineering, environmental or petroleum issues destroying the illegal refineries were causing more harm and damage to the affected areas.
He said that such operations should be strictly carried out by professionals and not any other individual or groups.
Also in her contribution, Rep. Joan Mrakpor (Delta-PDP) noted that the motion was timely since the military carried out its operations every other day, it was good to take precautionary measures now to avoid causing other hazards to the people in the oil region.
The Deputy speaker, Mr Yussuff Lasun in his contribution called for the engagement of those running legal refineries in the Niger Delta in the process.
He said that this would enable them come out with better ways of making use of the refineries instead of destroying them.
The motion was unanimously adopted when it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara.
The Tide source recalls that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had recently said that the Federal Government would establish modular refineries in the region to check illegal oil refineries.
In spite of the pronouncement, the refineries are yet to take off.

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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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