ADP tells Buhari to stop playing politics with insecurity in Oyo

 

The Action Democratic Party (ADP) has told President Muhammadu Buhari to desist from playing politics with insecurity in Oyo State, reminding him of his primary responsibility of securing lives and properties of all citizens.

This the party said, Buhari should be committed to, irrespective of ethnic, religion or region the citizens come from, noting that, Mr. President’s response to the rising cases of kidnapping, banditry and illegal entrance by invaders, was worrisome.

In a statement sent to DAILY POST on Tuesday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Prince Adeoye Adelaja, he raised alarm over the invasion of some Jihadist fundamentalists, who were reportedly camped at Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State.

The party urged the government to intervene in activities of bandits and other criminal elements, terrorizing, kidnapping, killing and maiming innocent residents, around Oke-Ogun, Saki, Ibarapa and others, saying residents there were under siege.

The statement further called on critical stakeholders to support Amotekun Corps in tackling criminals in the zone.

“Politicians, especially those in the South West and APC, should avoid playing dirty politics with the issue of this insecurity.

“We call on them to come together and avoid name calling or blame game, because everyone is open and vulnerable to being attacked irrespective of party affiliated,” it said.

The call on government, the party said, was at the backdrop of successes recorded by the Amotekun security outfit recently in confronting some bandits and militias in the forests.

Continuing, the statement noted: “if we should critically examine the security situation in every part of Nigeria, the outcome as usual, will be a sad tale, due to our weakened security architecture.

“The honest expectations of Nigerian people is that, Mr. President should be able to seek for help from independent security experts, stakeholders, so that they can join him in building a formidable security network.”

- DAILY POST

Democrats begin Trump’s impeachment process

 The United States congress has commenced the process of impeaching President Donald Trump.

Democrats in the house of representatives formally introduced the article of impeachment on Monday.

They accused the president of inciting insurrection at the US Capitol.

They also alleged he actively encouraged violence at the Capitol and made several false claims about the recent presidential election.

The house adjourned after Republicans objected to the article. They are expected to reconvene on Tuesday.

The Democrats also introduced a resolution, calling on Vice-President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment of the US constitution that would see Trump relieved of his duty.

The constitution empowers the vice-president to convene the White House cabinet to decide whether the president should be removed from office under certain circumstances.

It also permits congress to impeach presidents before the end of their tenure when they commit “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours.”

The resolutions, which come nine days to the end of the Trump presidency, is the second attempt at removing the US president from office after the house impeached him in 2020.

In the new article of impeachment, Trump was accused of instigating the violence that occurred at the Capitol when his supporters stormed the legislative complex and disrupted a process to certify Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

It also cited Trump’s call with Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, where the president was reported to have urged him to “find” enough votes for him to win the state.

“In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government, the article read.

“He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperilled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”

Trump has insisted he – not Biden – won the election without any evidence of fraud and despite court rulings throwing out his suits challenging the result.

- THECABLE

Chelsea confirm transfer deal for 20-year-old star

 

Chelsea have confirmed a transfer loan deal for 20-year-old midfielder, Juan Castillo.

The Premier League giants disclosed that Castillo would spend the rest of this season at ADO Den Haag after ending his loan deal with AZ Alkmaar.

Chelsea stated this on Monday in a statement via its website ahead of their Premier League tie with Fulham on 16 January 2021.

“Juan Castillo has ended his loan with AZ Alkmaar and will spend the rest of this season at ADO Den Haag,” it said.

The Dutch left-back returned to his homeland in October with AZ Alkmaar, where he made his top-flight debut last month in a 2-2 draw at Utrecht, and now joins fellow Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag on loan until the end of 2020/21,” Chelsea’s statement read.

Castillo joined Chelsea from Ajax in the summer of 2016.

The Dutch youngster helped Chelsea’s academy win the Under-18 Premier League and FA Youth Cup during his first year with the Blues.

- DAILY POST

NIN Linker developed by fraudsters not FG: NIMC counters Pantami

 

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has warned Nigerians to stay away from a “fake” app that claims to help link the National Identity Number (NIN) to SIM cards.

This is a clear departure from the earlier assertion by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

Pantami, last week, claimed that the agency had developed a mobile app that could be used to link up to seven SIM cards to one NIN.

Pantami, in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today last week Friday, said that the ministry and NIMC were working on transforming the NIN enrollment process and the subsequent linkage to SIM cards as required by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).

“We developed an app, when you go online, you will see it,” the minister said.

“On that app, as long as you have your NIMC number, you will only download the app without visiting any office. You will be able to link up to seven SIM numbers to only one. I have already downloaded the app, launched the app, and already linked some of my numbers immediately. This is part of digitalization.”

However, NIMC, in a Twitter post on Monday, dissociated itself from the app.

The agency claimed the app, titled “NIN Linker” on Goggle Play Store, is run by fraudsters who use it to harvest the NIN and Bank Verification Number (BVN) of subscribers.

“The app was not created by NIMC or the Federal Government of Nigeria. It is run by fraudsters who are currently harvesting people’s NINs and BVNs by default,” NIMC said.

The Commission further advised people to protect their data and stop disclosing personal information to unauthorized persons or platforms.

The Federal Government had announced that telecom subscribers with NIN have until January 19 to link their NIN with their SIM cards, while subscribers without NIN have February 9 deadline.

- PM NEWS

Longyearbyen town where you can’t die or give birth

 

By Andrei Tapalaga

The little gems hidden in our world are plentiful and interesting. However, there is one place on Earth that beats them all. In the small settlement named Longyearbyen in the center of Svalbard, in Norway, there are some very peculiar laws that are always followed by its 2000 citizens.

This settlement is known as the closest town to the north pole, therefore in the winter period night can last for up to four months. 120 days without natural light due to its geographical position. Besides being quite a cold place, this small town started to attract many tourists, not only for its fascinating history but also for its importance in the future of humanity.

The history behind the settlement
Longyearbyen was created as a settlement due to all the workers from the coal mine, at the time being one of the biggest coal mines in Scandinavia. Near the 2000s when the mine became depleted the workers never left, therefore they settled, creating this small town and living mainly on the land, as well as on the growing tourism.

Due to this, the people in Longyearbyen have implemented some harsh laws that to outsiders may not make sense, but to their style of life due to the extreme weather they are surrounded by, they are only logical. As the town kept evolving, more people wanted to join this quiet “end of the world,” not only for the simple lifestyle, but also for the long and dark winters which may seem somber, but that are actually really beautiful.

Not allowed to die or give life
Two very extreme laws made by the people living in Longyearbyen are not being allowed to die nor to give birth. The reason why you are not allowed to die in the settlement is that you cannot bury someone in snow as they will decompose very slowly. This would attract polar bears that are one of the biggest dangers to the settlers. Therefore, in case someone is feeling very ill to the point where they might die, they will be sent to the Southern side of Norway to be given better medication or in the worst case bury the person.

The second law of not being allowed to give birth in the settlement is because the settlement does not have a maternity due to its small population. In order to avoid any risks during labor, they highly recommend that the person that is pregnant will go to the closest city or town that has a maternity. Once again, to avoid any unnecessary death.
Another interesting law that does actually make more sense is that cats are not allowed in the settlement. This is because cats could hunt the birds in the settlement, making them extinct. So rather than taking a unnecessary risk, they avoid it. Living in such an extreme place you must take the least amount of risks as possible if you want to survive.

Something else that is very interesting and quite attractive to tourists is the seed bank that has been created in the place of the old coal mine. The seed bank has been created to protect most types of plants that have been discovered and some which are extinct. The bank at the moment holds over 800,000 seeds of different types and the number is increasing. This bank has been created in case a natural catastrophe happens in the future, or even a nuclear war.

*Andrei Tapalaga wrote this in Medium

COVID-19: 60 Lagos-Ibadan railway workers test positive

 

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has said that 60 Lagos-Ibadan railway project workers have contracted the dreaded coronavirus disease.

The Minister, who made this known during an interview with newsmen, said the railway project would have been inaugurated in the first week of January if not for the upsurge in the second wave.

According to him, it was important to reschedule the proposed January 2021 inauguration date even though no life has been lost.

“First let us admit that over 60 of our staff, not Ministry of Transportation staff, but the staff working on the rail project, have been infected by the virus.

“Luckily nobody has died and I pray nobody will die, but you see the kind of sacrifice everybody is making to get the rail to function.

“As far as we are concerned, we need to learn how to live with this infection and try as much as possible to keep ourselves protected,” he said.

Speaking on when the inauguration of the project would take place, Amaechi said that the inauguration will hold only when there is a reduction in new cases recorded in the country.

“We were to inaugurate the railway project in the first week of January but had to stop those doing minor completion work because of the rise in coronavirus transmission.

“The timeline for inauguration will depend on when the virus is being curbed,” he added.

- DAILY POST

FIRS: Nigeria lost N5.4trn to tax evasion by multinationals in 10 years

 

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says the country lost N5.4 trillion to tax evasion by multinationals.

Speaking at a workshop in Abuja on Monday, Muhammad Nami, the FIRS chairman, explained that the revenue was lost between 2007 and 2017.

While commending some multinational corporations for leading in tax compliance in various sectors, he expressed worries that many rich multinational corporations did not pay the right taxes due to them, let alone pay their taxes voluntarily.

To solve this problem, Nami said the FIRS has created 35 additional tax audit units across the country to address the problem of illicit financial flow and improve tax compliance.

“At the FIRS we are paying greater attention to tax audit in general and transfer pricing audit in particular in order to improve the level of tax compliance in the country,” a statement by Abdullahi Ahmad, director of the FIRS communications and liason department, quoted Nami to have said.

“As a result, in the last one year, we have created more than 35 additional tax audit units and deployed experienced and capable staff to take charge of these offices.”

According to a 2014 report by the High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, Nigeria accounted for 30.5 percent of money lost by the continent through illicit financial flows.

- THECABLE