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Don’t Deploy Corps Members To Volatile States, Bishops Tell FG

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The 38th Council of Bishops of Methodist Church Nigeria has told Federal Government not to mobilize or deploy members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to volatile states where there is widespread insecurity and brigandage.
The council led by the Prelate of the church, Dr. Samuel Chukwuemeka Uche, while addressing the press on state of the nation, yesterday, in Lagos, also backed all the resolution of Southern governors, on various issues bordering on security of life and property, peace and unity, among others.
Uche insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari has no other choice than to restructure the country in order to address various challenges facing the country.
The Methodist Church Prelate said restructuring of the country would go a long way in tackling the insecurity been faced by the country.
The council queried the continued stay in office of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, who was alleged of having relationship with terrorist group.
It called of the Federal Government, to quickly sack him and investigate all the allegations level against him.
On recent rejection of open grazing by the southern governors in the country, the council said, “Council salutes the Southern Governors Forum for their anti open grazing stance. Global best practices in animal husbandry are by way of ranching. Ranching, therefore, is the answer to the perennial and often fatal clashes between herders and farmers”.
On 2023 election, the council called on all politicians, irrespective of their political affiliation, to put the nation and collective interest of Nigerians above their personal and parochial consideration, adding that, “the general unease and tension in the country as we move towards the 2023 General Election calls for collective concern” .
Uche also called on the Inspector-General of Police, to deploy his lieutenants, the Assistant Inspection-General of Police and Commissioners of Police to their respective zones and states of origins, also to establish state police in order to abate crime rate.
These, the council said, will also help in fighting insecurity in the country.
The council applauded the effort of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the fight against drug trafficking.
While raising concern over safety of corps members, the council said, “The Federal Government should not mobilize and deploy members of the National Youth Service Corps to volatile states where there is widespread insecurity and brigandage which continue to present existential threat to life and property. All tiers of government, the Media, all mobilization organs and non-governmental agencies should take intentional steps to raise security consciousness, awareness and training in vigilantism. Council further urges the Federal Government to ensure that all abductees are released unharmed”.

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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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