News
Trump fires election security official who rejected fraud claims
United States President Donald Trump has fired the government’s top election security official, who rejected the President’s claims of “massive” fraud in the November 3 poll, which he lost to the Democratic Party candidate, Joe Biden.
Trump announced on Twitter the termination “effective immediately” of Chris Krebs, who led the agency that jointly declared “the November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.”
Trump, who refuses to acknowledge that he lost his bid for reelection to Biden, has repeatedly claimed without evidence that the voting and count were replete with fraud.
“The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud,” Trump wrote in a tweet.
“Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.”
Krebs, who reportedly told friends last week he expected to be removed, appeared to confirm it in a tweet on his personal account.
“Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomorrow,” he wrote.
Krebs was in charge of fending off possible foreign and domestic hacker intrusions into myriad voting machines, sorting and counting machines, databases and other systems that states and localities rely on to tally ballots.
Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Krebs and his team had “worked diligently to safeguard our elections.”
“Instead of rewarding this great service, President Trump is retaliating against Director Krebs and other officials who did their duty,” he said in a statement.
Republican Senator Ben Sasse wrote: “Chris Krebs did a really good job — as state election officials all across the nation will tell you — and he obviously should not be fired.”
The challenge was even tougher this year because of the complexities of the coronavirus, which forced a sweeping turn to voting by mail.
Under Krebs, CISA had also warned several times that Russians and Iranians were making attempts to break into the US systems, as Russians had tried in 2016.
The White House was reportedly particularly unhappy about a CISA webpage set up to fight disinformation called “Rumor vs Reality.”
The page rejected claims Trump and others have made, including that many votes were made in the names of dead people, that counting the ballots days after election day is not normal and that shifting vote counts indicate fraud.
Through numerous reviews, investigations and lawsuits, no evidence has come up of any significant distortion or loss of votes, by accident or fraud.
“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” an official group of senior US federal and state election officials said in a report last week.
News
Late COAS Lagbaja gets CFR honour, buried amid tributes
Late COAS Lagbaja gets CFR honour, buried amid tributes
The late Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja, was on Friday laid to rest in Abuja, amid tears and tributes.
President Bola Tinubu conferred a posthumous award of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the late Chief of Army Staff.
The burial took place at the National Cemetery in Abuja to end two days of funeral rites that began in Lagos earlier in the week.
His body was lowered into the grave at exactly 4:41pm after the ceremony that lasted over two hours.
Lagbaja’s casket, draped in Nigeria’s green and white colours, arrived at the cemetery around 3pm in a white funeral wagon after a funeral service at the National Christian Centre in Abuja.
Dignitaries were led to the event by President Bola Tinubu. Others are Vice President Kashim Shettima; the Acting Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Olufemi Oluyede; the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa; Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, and other top government officials and military brass.
President Tinubu announced the conferment of the CFR on the late COAS during the interment at the National Cemetery in Abuja.
The President extolled the virtues of the late warrior, especially his contributions to national security.
According to him, the appointment of Lagbaja as the COAS was one of his finest made so far.
“As an eternal symbol of our appreciation, I have granted the late Chief of Army Staff, the posthumous national honour of the Commander of the Federal Republic of the Niger (CFR),” Tinubu declared.
He thereafter invited the wife of the late COAS, Mariya, to collect the award on behalf of the Lagbaja family amid applause from the congregation.
News
Supreme Court dismisses 16 govs suit challenging EFCC legality
Supreme Court dismisses 16 govs suit challenging EFCC legality
The Supreme Court has dismissed the suit by 16 states challenging the constitutionality of the acts establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and two others.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the other agencies are the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
In the lead judgment by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji delivered on Friday, the Supreme Court resolved the six issues raised for determination in the suit against the plaintiffs.
The court held that the laws establishing the anti-corruption agencies were validly enacted by the National Assembly within its legislative competence.
It faulted the claim by the plaintiffs that the EFCC Act, being a product of the United Nations convention on corruption, ought to be ratified by majority of the state houses of assembly.
Delivering judgement on Friday, Justice Abba-Aji ruled that “the EFCC Act, which was not established from a treaty but a convention, does not need the ratification of the houses of assembly.”
News
Executive Secretary FCDA Hadi Ahmad suspended indefinitely
Executive Secretary FCDA Hadi Ahmad suspended indefinitely
Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority FCDA, Engr. Shehu Hadi Ahmad, has been suspended indefinitely.
His suspicion was on the order of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Minister, Lere Olayinka, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday evening.
No reason was given for the suspension.
Ahmad was directed to hand over to the Director, Engineering Services in the FCDA.
The statement read: “The Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority FCDA, Engr. Shehu Hadi Ahmad, has been suspended indefinitely.
“According to a statement on Thursday, by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, the suspension of Engr Hadi Ahmad is with immediate effect.
“The suspended Executive Secretary has consequently been directed to hand over to the Director of Engineering Services, Engr in the FCDA.”
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