News
US Congress Certifies Trump Win Four Years After Capitol Riot
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Donald Trump capped a historic political comeback on Monday as Congress certified his election victory, in a remarkable turn from four years ago, when a mob he had summoned to Washington ransacked the US Capitol.
The president-elect spent much of his campaign facing prosecution over the 2021 insurrection, when his supporters — fueled by his false claims of voter fraud — rioted to halt the certification of his defeat to Joe Biden
But Trump, 78, was voted back into office in November and Monday’s ceremony went much more smoothly, even with a major winter storm blanketing the capital and much of the country in snow.
“Donald J Trump of the state of Florida, has received 312 votes. Kamala D Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes,” Harris herself declared to assembled lawmakers after the counting was complete.
Harris — who oversaw the certification as part of her vice-presidential duties — said the official count “shall be deemed a sufficient declaration” for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance to take their oaths of office on January 20.
The ceremony marked the final blow to efforts to have the Republican leader face justice over the riot, the culmination of a multi-pronged alleged criminal conspiracy that prosecutors said Trump led — before they dropped all charges upon his election.
Trump has vowed to pardon an unspecified number of the rioters — around 900 of whom have admitted federal charges from trespassing and vandalism to assaulting police — describing them as “hostages.”
In a Washington Post op-ed, Biden slammed Trump’s allies for downplaying the violence of 2021 and urged Americans to be “proud that our democracy withstood this assault.”
“We cannot accept a repeat of what occurred four years ago,” he said. “An unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day.”
Indiana conservative Mike Pence had Harris’s job — certifying his own defeat alongside Trump — in 2021 when, in a desperate bid to cling to power, the then-president demanded that he reject Biden’s victory.
Lawmakers in both parties have occasionally used the certification process to challenge elections, but more than half of House Republicans rejected the results in 2021.
– ‘Emotional trauma’
No Democratic leaders followed the Republican example this time around and there were no objections to certifying Trump’s victory — a process that took barely half an hour.
The former reality TV star was impeached for inciting the 2021 insurrection after delivering a raucous speech outside the White House early in the day, demanding that supporters march on the Capitol and “fight like hell.”
Thousands attacked the citadel of American democracy — battering police with metal bars and flag poles, smashing windows, sending lawmakers running in fear and chanting “Hang Mike Pence!”
Four people died — two from heart attacks, one from a potential overdose, and a rioter fatally shot by police as she tried to force her way into the House chamber. Four police officers committed suicide subsequently.
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed to investigate the House committee that probed the riot and found that Trump had instigated it after the failure of a host of other schemes to overturn an election he knew he had lost.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement the Justice Department had over the last four years charged more than 1,500 people suspected of involvement in the “unprecedented attack on a cornerstone of our system of government.”
The certification — which launches a two-week countdown towards Trump’s January 20 inauguration — was designated for the first time as a national security special event, with 500 National Guard personnel on standby.
But the federal government and Washington public schools were closed Monday with up to a foot (30 centimeters) of snow expected.
“Four years ago today, our nation watched in horror as a terrorist mob stormed the Capitol grounds and desecrated our temple of Democracy in a violent attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power,” Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who was House speaker at the time of the rebellion, said in a statement.
“The January 6th insurrection shook our Republic to its core — and left behind physical scars and emotional trauma on members of our congressional community and our country that endure to this day.”
AFP
The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas has revealed that there is relative stability in the State, but that the State is still fragile.
The Sole Administrator revealed this in Abuja on Friday when appeared before the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Rivers State.
The Committee had invited the Sole Administrator for a proper briefing on developments in Rivers State, following the suspension of the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara by President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking when he appeared before the ad-hoc committee, Ibas requested for more time to properly brief the committee on developments in the State.
Ibas, apologisesd for his inability to attend earlier engagements, explained that the absence was not out of disregard, but rather due to the weighty and urgent demands of stabilising governance in Rivers.
“I have always held the National Assembly in the highest regard. I recognise the importance of your oversight responsibilities and your interest in the progress being made in Rivers, which is presently relatively calm, but still fragile,” Ibas said.
He went further to say: “That said, I only request your understanding and the indulgence of this committee to grant me additional time to adequately prepare and present a comprehensive and constructive briefing.
“Given the complexities and sensitivities surrounding the current transitional period in Rivers. It is important that any engagement with this committee is done with the depth, accuracy and clarity it rightfully deserves.
“I remain fully committed to cooperating with the committee and to ensuring that all relevant information is made available in due course to support your important work.
“I only request the understanding and the indulgence of this committee to grant me additional time to adequately prepare and present a comprehensive and constructive briefing given the complexities and sensitivities surrounding the current transitional period in Rivers.
“It is important that any engagement with this committee is done with the depth, accuracy and clarity it rightfully deserves.
“I remain fully committed to cooperating with the committee and to ensuring that all relevant information is made available in due course to support your important work,” he said.
Meanwhile, addressing newsmen after a close door meeting, the Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Julius Ihonvbere (APC-Edo) said that the committee resolved to give a new date to the sole administrator.
Ihonvbere, underscored the constitutional role of the National Assembly in legitimising and overseeing the state of emergency declared in Rivers.
According to the chairman, the federal legislature remains central to the state’s transitional process.
Ihonvbere reaffirmed the committee’s constitutional mandate and expressed satisfaction that the administrator had finally honored the invitation after earlier delays.
He emphasised that the committee’s mandate was rooted in constitutional authority and that some of its terms had already been communicated to the administrator in an earlier letter.
The chairman encouraged the administrator to feel at ease, stressing that the committee members had been carefully selected to ensure broad representation across geopolitical zones and legislative experience.
“I want you to feel relaxed because the members you see here were carefully selected based on zonal representation and membership of the House to advance the progress that Rivers needs to make in order to be part and parcel of the holistic structure of democracy that Nigeria represents today.
“We have demonstrated again and again our preparedness to do this job efficiently and effectively,” he assured.
The Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency, (KUIMCA) has explained the reasons behind the disruption in the service mobile Telecom giant, MTN in the state, pointing out that MTN owing to non compliance.
The Telecom service has been experiencing a service distruption in the last two weeks and witnessed total shut down in the last one week.
The Director General of KUIMCA Director General, Dr Taofeeq Isah while speaking with journalists on Friday in Lokoja attributed the shut down to the failure of the Telecom company to comply fully with rules of operation as stipulated in the official gazette guiding their operation in the state.
“In my assumption of office last August, I went through their files and discovered that they have not fully complied with the rules guiding their operations in the state. I called them for a discussion where they complained of being overbilled concerning the area of the state covered by their optic fibre.
” I went with them for verification exercise to assess their claim which took about 4 days and we found out they were even covering more areas than they claimed.
“We asked they to go and make the necessary payment but MTN refused. That is why we sealed off their facilities after obtaining court order to do so so”.
The Director General called on the citizens of the state to be patient with them since their interest was being protected .
He said that since MTN is not the only network operating in the state, citizens as well as the security agencies to consider switching to other networks considering their importance in securing the lives and property of Citizens which should not be compromised under any circumstance.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman, Kogi State Internal Revenue Service , Salihu Enehe said that MTN has arrogated to itself so much power that they have been refusing to respond to so many entrities asking for complainces on various termes of operations in the state.
The Chairman who was represented by a Director in the agency Hassana Salawu noted that
MTN has been indulging in violation of various rules not only the optic fibre right of way across the state but also and have violated every rules guiding their operations in the state.
“MTN claimed to have 48 optic fibres when audit revealed they have 199 fibres laid under the ground in the state. We have called for reconciliation meetings severally but they claimed not to be ready up till now”.
But in a swift reaction, the MTN spokesperson in the State, though will not want his name in print, confirmed that negotiations is on going, assured that the issues will soon be resolved.
By Gloria Ikibah
Eight out of the nine Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members representing Osun State in the House of Representatives have firmly restated their loyalty to the party and Governor Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke, distancing themselves from recent defection claims.
Their stance follows public comments by Rep. Busayo Oluwole Oke, who recently exited the PDP and hinted that other members of the Osun caucus were poised to follow his lead.
In a joint statement released in Abuja on Friday, the lawmakers which include Reps Bamidele Salam, Ajilesoro Abimbola Taofeek, Mudashiru Lukman Alani, Akanni Clement Ademola, Omirin Emmanuel Olusanya, Adewale Moruf Adebayo, Adetunji Abidemi Olusoji, and Oladebo Lanre Omoleye—made it clear they remain committed to the PDP and its leadership in the state.
They described Oke’s exit as unsurprising, pointing to what they called his long-standing pattern of defiance, public criticism of the party, and antagonism towards the Adeleke-led government.
The lawmakers labelled his defection as an act of ingratitude, given the political opportunities the PDP had afforded him over the years, and cautioned him against spreading misleading narratives aimed at courting favour within his new political camp.
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