Trump bows to pressure, approves power transition to Biden – Newstrends
Connect with us

News

Trump bows to pressure, approves power transition to Biden

Published

on

President Donald Trump’s government on Monday authorised President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. to begin a formal transition process after Michigan certified Biden as its winner, a strong sign that the President’s last-ditch bid to overturn the results of the election was coming to an end.

Trump did not concede, and vowed to persist with efforts to change the vote, which have so far proved fruitless. But the president said on Twitter on Monday night that he accepted the decision by Emily W. Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, to allow a transition to proceed.

In his tweet, Trump said that he had told his officials to begin “initial protocols” involving the handoff to Biden “in the best interest of our country,” even though he had spent weeks of trying to subvert a free and fair election with false claims of fraud. Hours later, he tried to play down the significance of Ms. Murphy’s action, tweeting that it was simply “preliminarily work with the Dems” that would not stop efforts to change the election results.

Still, Ms. Murphy’s designation of Mr. Biden as the apparent victor provides the incoming administration with federal funds and resources and clears the way for the president-elect’s advisers to coordinate with Trump administration officials.

The decision from Ms. Murphy came after several additional senior Republican lawmakers, as well as leading figures from business and world affairs, denounced the delay in allowing the peaceful transfer of power to begin, a holdup that Biden and his top aides said was threatening national security and the ability of the incoming administration to effectively plan for combating the coronavirus pandemic.

And it followed a key court decision in Pennsylvania, where the state’s Supreme Court on Monday ruled against the Trump campaign and the president’s Republican allies, stating that roughly 8,000 ballots with signature or date irregularities must be counted.

In Michigan, the statewide canvassing board, with two Republicans and two Democrats, voted 3 to 0 to approve the results, with one Republican abstaining. It officially delivered to Biden a key battleground that Trump had wrested away from Democrats four years ago, and rebuffed the president’s legal and political efforts to overturn the results.

By Monday evening, as Biden moved ahead with plans to fill out his cabinet, broad sectors of the nation had delivered a blunt message to a defeated president: His campaign to stay in the White House and subvert the election, unrealistic from the start, was nearing the end.

Ms. Murphy said she made her decision on Monday because of “recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results,” most likely referring to the certification of votes by election officials in Michigan and a nearly unbroken string of court decisions that have rejected Mr. Trump’s challenges in several states.

In a statement, Yohannes Abraham, the executive director of Biden’s transition, said that Murphy’s decision was “a needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation.”

He added that aides to Biden would soon begin meeting with Trump administration officials “to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain complete understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to hollow out government agencies.”

-New York Times

News

NIMC issues 105 million NINs in two years

Published

on

NIMC issues 105 million NINs in two years

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced that it has issued 105 million NINs to Nigeria and aims to capture the country’s over 200 million population by 2026.

The Head of Corporate Communications at the commission, Kayode Adegoke, disclosed this on X Space over the weekend.

He said, “As of today, over 105 million NIN have been issued to Nigerians and legal residents. We want to assure Nigerians that within the next one or two years, we will reach our target of enrolling all Nigerians.”

Speaking further, Adegoke highlighted that after Abisoye Coker was appointed the director-general of MIMC, she identified the necessity to streamline the modification and enrollment processes.

His words: “In the past, if any applicant has issues with the data on their NIN, you have to go to our office or any of our centres physically to go and do the modification.

READ ALSO:

“However, I want to remind Nigerians that when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, came on board on May 29, 2023, one of the pillars of the Renewed Hope Agenda was to strengthen the national identification system in Nigeria.

“In August, President Tinubu nominated Engineer Abisoye Coker to manage the affairs of the commission. When she became the DG/CEO, one of the things she noticed was that the process for modification and the process for enrollment was a bit cumbersome. So, she came up with a self-service platform.

“Now this service is to ensure that Nigerians, either here or abroad, do not need to go to a centre or do not need to be physically present for modification to be done. Through this platform, Nigerians can change their names, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, and so on. They can do all these in the comfort of their homes or offices on their devices, be it iOS or Android-based devices.”

Adegoke mentioned that with the introduction of the self-service portal, all modifications are now completed within 24-48 hours, stating that it’s a shift from the past where individuals had to wait for months before modifications were made.

Continue Reading

News

Church testimony: Vera Anyim speaks after meeting with Pastor Enenche

Published

on

Church testimony: Vera Anyim speaks after meeting with Pastor Enenche

Anyim Vera, the lady accused of giving false testimony at Abuja’s Dunamis International Gospel Centre, has stated that she holds no malice against the church.

A viral video from Sunday shows the church’s senior pastor, Paul Enenche, doubting the legitimacy of the woman’s testimony at his Abuja church.

Enenche interrupted the woman, who claimed to have graduated with a “BSc in Law” from Nigeria’s National Open University, and accused her of lying.

He told her that the way she spoke did not indicate that she was a law graduate. He also informed her that there is no such thing as a “BSc in Law” and ordered that she vacate the alter.

READ ALSO:

The video received varied comments, with many requesting that the pastor apologize to the woman. Anyim, however, stated in a Facebook post on Monday that she had moved on from the issue.

Anyim made this statement after meeting Enenche and his wife, Becky.

She wrote, “I want to inform the whole world that I just had a warm meeting with my spiritual father and mother, Dr. Paul Enenche and Dr. Becky Enenche.

“I don’t have any grudges against the church or them. I remain committed to serving God as a member of Dunamis Church.

“I am thankful for the concern of the public.

“I have put the situation at my back, and I have moved forward, and I want everybody to do the same. Peace.”

Continue Reading

News

We rescued over 1000 abductees without paying ransom – Ribadu

Published

on

National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu

We rescued over 1000 abductees without paying ransom – Ribadu

The National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, says the Federal Government has rescued over 1,000 victims of verified mass abduction across the country without paying ransom.

Ribadu disclosed this on Monday, in Abuja while receiving 22 rescued students and staff of the Federal University Gusau, that the covert operations were conducted in the last few months.

He said the successful rescue operations were testimonies to the efforts of the government to free all those being unlawfully held in captivity.

“We have so far released over a thousand of such victims without noise and in complete respect for their privacy and safety.

“We released people from Zambara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, Taraba, Adamawa, and so many other states.

“Thousands, but never said a word and we thank God for that, and maybe that is the reason why we are so far very successful.

“This occasion marks a final juncture in a series of rescues we have undertaken in the last few months to free victims of recent cases of mass abductions that are verified.

READ ALSO:

“It is making a difference, it is a matter of time and we will see the outcome of the work we are doing,” he said.

The NSA said the victims were rescued unhurt and without any of the female abductees molested, adding that it was a marked departure from what had been the case in the past.

According to him, going forward, the government is strengthening law enforcement and security measures to prevent further abductions.

He added that the government would strengthen physical security across vulnerable communities in the country.

“This work is done by our security forces, our armed forces, our police, our intelligence agencies.

“All of us collectively have done this work together and we all are fully participating and this is the outcome of it,” he said.

Ribadu commended the leadership of President Bola Tinubu for working assiduously to address insecurity in the country.

According to him, the efforts have led to great improvement in recent times in taming terrorist attacks.

Recall that those rescued were abducted from the school on September 22, 2023, when bandits attacked three off-campus students’ hostels at Sabon Gida in Gusau.

Those kidnapped from the university included female students, some male artisans, a private security guard and a protocol officer.

We rescued over 1000 abductees without paying ransom – Ribadu

Continue Reading

Trending

Skip to content