Donald Trump Offered $100m Worth Of Deals As “Plan B” If Election Legal Battle Fails

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November 11, 2020

Donald Trump Offered $100m Worth Of Deals As "Plan B" If Election Legal Battle Fails

Donald Trump is being offered book and TV deals worth around $100 million as part of a ‘plan B’ if his election legal battle fails to secure him a second term, according to a source close to the president.

The source told Page Six Tuesday the president is being ‘bombarded’ with lucrative book and TV offers about his time in the White House as well as offers from far-right TV outlets.

‘Book and TV deals are plan-B if he doesn’t win the vote war,’ the source said.

‘Translate 70 million votes into viewers and record book sales. All the anti-Trump books have made big bucks, so this from the Donald is a surefire hit.’

This comes as Trump continues to refuse to concede to Joe Biden, three days after the election was called for the Democrat, and continues to make unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud.

Trump already has a large array of around 19 books in his portfolio, from business advice books such as ‘Think Big and Kick Ass’ to a golf book called ‘Trump: The Best Golf Advice I Ever Received’.

His latest book – Crippled America – was published by Simon & Schuster in 2015, one year before he was won the 2016 election.

In 2018 he boasted on Twitter he had ‘written many best selling books’.

Former White House inhabitants often secure big-figure deals to give readers a behind the scenes look at life in the seat of government.

Former-President Barack Obama and Former First Lady Michelle Obama are rumored to have bagged a $65 million deal with Crown in 2017, with Barack’s latest book ‘A Promised Land’ due to hit shelves next week.

However, a book insider told Page Six the $100 million price tags ‘don’t sound accurate’.

While no publishers have confirmed they are in talks with Trump for a book on his time in office, the insider cited Simon & Schuster as ‘one publisher to watch’ due to its work with Trump in the past and the top boss’s personal association with him.

‘They published [Trump’s] last book. CEO Jonathan Karp published several of his books there, and at Random House, and went to Trump’s wedding to Melania,’ they told Page Six.

However, as well as working with Trump in the past, Simon & Schuster is also the company behind the explosive tell-all books from former National Security Adviser John Bolton and Trump’s niece Mary L. Trump – both of which the president went to court to try to stop being released.

Publisher Center Street, a Hachette Book Group imprint, has previously published Donald Trump Jr., Newt Gingrich and Judge Jeanine Pirro among others in the past.

But several publishers are eyeing up the risks of working with Trump.

Even though other presidents left office highly unpopular, from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush, and managed to get book deals and release bestsellers, none were as polarizing as Trump or have so many upcoming legal battles.

Trump has a number of pending legal issues including a New York State investigation into his finances, and a defamation lawsuit from E. Jean Carroll, one of more than 20 women who have alleged sexual assault or misconduct by Trump.

Several publishers told the AP they also don’t believe Trump will have the same global appeal as Obama.

David Drake, executive vice president and publisher of Crown, which will release Obama’s memoir, declined comment to the Associated Press on whether he would acquire a book by Trump or even meet with him.

The executive vice president and publisher of Alfred A. Knopf, Reagan Arthur, doubted she would sign up Trump, but added she would probably agree to meet with him, out of courtesy to a former president.

Dana Canedy, senior vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster’s namesake imprint, said any decision to work with Trump or those in his Cabinet would depend on what they were planning to say.

‘I would apply the same rigorous approach to any meeting, with anyone, Democratic or Republican,’ she said.

‘I would have to see whether there’s an arc to the story, how deeply reported it would be, and that there would be fact-checking so we could be confident about it.

‘And that’s whether Joe Biden was coming to me or Donald Trump was coming to me.’

Canedy said she might be interested in a book from Trump about his influence on the Republican Party, which initially resisted his rise in 2016.

She would want Trump, or any author, to be ‘fair, balanced and honest,’ and have ‘a level of insight and self-awareness.’

Asked if she believed Trump could meet those standards, Canedy said: ‘I wouldn’t know how to answer that, quite honestly, because I would need to see the proposal first.’

Back in July, Canedy said in an interview with the New Yorker it would be ‘important’ for the president to release ‘one or more books’ on leaving the White House.

‘Oh, he’s the President. Everyone who leaves the White House has one or more books in them and that becomes part of public history,’ Canedy said at the time.

‘I think that would be not only appropriate but important.’

Meanwhile, publishers are also gearing up for numerous books written about the president and his election loss to Biden.

Works already planned include the anti-Trump ‘Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response,’ by former Obamacare head Andy Slavitt.

There’s a campaign book from New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns in the pipeline and former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale is also reportedly working on a memoir.

‘It was a very controversial presidency and the New York publishing world isn’t exactly packed with Trump fans,’ Matt Latimer of the Javelin literary agency, where clients have included former FBI Director James Comey, former National Security Adviser John Bolton and Fox host Tucker Carlson, told Associated Press.

‘But there are tens of millions of Americans who look to the Trump presidency as an important time and are fans of his administration. At least some publishers will recognize that.’

Wildlife charity begins rescue mission after visitor snapped starving lion, dozens of underfed animals in Nigerian zoo

By

Shalom Ekelaka

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November 11, 2020

Wildlife charity begins rescue mission after visitor snapped starving lion, dozens of underfed animals in Nigerian zoo

A wildlife charity has begun a rescue mission to save the life of a severely malnourished male lion after a visitor discovered the starving lion and dozens of underfed animals at a zoo in Nigeria.

According to Mail Online, the man made the shocking discovery at the Gamji Gate zoo in Kaduna, Nigeria.

The report said the man, who wished to remain unnamed, paid a one-dollar entrance fee to the state-owned zoo where he said he found a starving lion and dozens of neglected animals.

Speaking with Jam Press, the man said: ‘The first moment I saw the animal I felt shock. I was so surprised. I felt so nervous and uneasy because it was my first time seeing a lion live.

‘Like this is my first time in a zoo. I virtually saw them in movies, news and magazines. Actually, most of the animals in the zoo are not well-fed. They lack proper treatment or let me say malnutrition.’

The man who recorded his findings said he immediately contacted the animal welfare charity WildatLife.e.V to assist in the rescue of the lion, named Zaki

His footage and photos show the lion looking incredibly thin with its ribs visibly protruding from its stomach.

WildatLife.e.V is said to be working alongside the Nigerian Association of Zoological parks which has assisted them in finding a wildlife vet and informing the authorities, who are investigating the matter urgently.

A spokesperson said: ‘The vet was sent and gave medical assistance to the lion but he will require further treatment which NGO WildatLife will pay for.

‘We are awaiting the full vet diagnosis and report into how and why this has been allowed to happen.

‘Zaki is now receiving medical care and it will be an ongoing case. If Zaki survives this ordeal, our NGO has offered to relocate him to a sanctuary that will see him thrive.

‘But in his now critical condition, it is not viable to relocate him, we must work closely with the Nigerian officials to have this matter dealt with internally.

‘We must prevent suffering in zoos around the wild that holds wildlife captive for profit.’

A number of other animals in the zoo including monkeys also looked to be in poor health and malnourished too. The NGO said the conditions and enclosures were completely unsuitable.

They also added that the lion is the most urgent and shocking case the NGO has ever seen.

See more pictures of animals from the zoo below:

Gunmen Kidnap Edo Deputy Governor’s Younger Brother

By

Akintomide Aroso

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November 10, 2020

Gunmen Kidnap Edo Deputy Governor’s Younger Brother

A younger brother of the deputy governor of Edo State identified as Frederick Shaibu has been kidnapped by gunmen while taking his kids to school in Irhiri, Benin.

As of the time of this report, the kidnappers were yet to make contact with the family.

A family source told PUNCH that the incident happened on Monday.

The source said, “They attacked him and took him away. It happened in the Aruogba area, Irhiri around 07 am when he was driving his children to school. The children were left by the gunmen who took their father away. But the incident has been reported to security agencies, they have not made any contact with the family.

“It is believed that the kidnappers came through the Ogba River because people who witnessed the incident said they went through the bushes that lead to the riverside.

“Security agencies have been informed and they are doing everything possible to ensure that he is released unhurt and reunited with his family.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Chidi Nwabuzor, said he was yet to be briefed on the incident.

Pompeo Promises ‘Smooth Transition To Trump’s Second Term’

By

Akintomide Aroso

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November 10, 2020

Pompeo Promises ‘Smooth Transition To Trump’s Second Term’ — Mike Pompeo

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday promised the world a “smooth transition” after US elections but refused to recognize President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, saying Donald Trump will remain in power.

“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said in an at times testy news conference when asked about contacts with the Biden team.

“The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today…….with the President who is in office on January 20 a minute after noon will be successful,” he said, referring to the date of the presidential inauguration.

World leaders including almost all US allies have congratulated Biden, who has achieved unassailable leads in key states as well as a commanding edge in the nationwide popular vote.

But Trump has refused to concede the November 3 election and has alleged massive fraud, calling for recounts and legal action.

Asked if the United States can still issue statements calling for free elections around the world, Pompeo said the question was “ridiculous.”

“This department cares deeply to make sure that elections around the world are safe and secure and free and fair, and my officers risk their lives to ensure that that happens,” he said.

AFP

Broad Look: Why Can’t Trump Accept His Defeat?

By

Akintomide Aroso

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November 10, 2020

Broad Look: Why Can’t Trump Accept His Defeat? — United States President, Donald Trump

With his defeat in the US presidential election, Donald Trump finds himself fighting against being tagged with a label he frequently applies to rivals but which runs completely counter to his own brand: “loser.”

The Republican is pursuing legal action in several battleground states, though his lawyers have so far failed to substantiate claims of fraud and observers see the possibility of the courts overturning the result of the vote as vanishingly small.

Yet according to scholars and mental health professionals, the same authoritarian qualities that defined Trump’s rise to power and his presidency make it almost impossible for him to digest a graceful concession to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

This, they warn, could make the post-election, pre-inauguration period a particularly unstable time for the country.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University, told AFP that Trump had tried to establish an “authoritarian model of the presidency” based on “arrogance, brutality, and the idea that he must be defended from his enemies.”

“It’s easier to claim the whole election was a fraud than admit that his policies turned his people against him in numbers sufficient to ensure his defeat” added the author of the forthcoming book: “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present.”

Having claimed victimhood at the hands of ignoble forces that coalesced against him, “we can expect him to continue in this vein and delay the public humiliation of a concession speech,” she said.

“We should be watchful of what he might do over the next months in a vindictive spirit,” she argued.

That conclusion was shared by John Gartner, a Baltimore-based psychologist who is among a growing number of mental health professionals who have publicly warned that Trump is a “malignant narcissist.”

People who have this personality type — first coined by famed psychoanalyst Erich Fromm to explain “the quintessence of evil” — exhibit narcissism, antisocial personality disorder, paranoia, and sadism.

Gartner said he was worried that Trump may attempt to pursue a “Nero decree” or “scorched Earth” strategy as a means to deal with his loss.

But he added he was hopeful that given the stinging loss, the president would start to lose his grip on some of his followers.

‘Nobody To Bail Him Out’
For Mary Trump, the president’s niece and one of his most strident critics, her uncle’s decision to declare himself the winner of the election and accuse his rival of cheating spoke of his desperation at circumstances he wasn’t accustomed to.

“Donald has never been in this place before where there’s nobody to bail him out, there’s nobody to buy him out,” the clinical psychologist, who wrote a memoir on her uncle over the summer, told MSNBC.

In her book, she argued that the president is a product of his “sociopath” father Fred Trump, who created an abusive and traumatic home life.

Trump has built his public persona on the idea of being a winner — first in the rough-and-tumble world of New York real estate, and later on the show “The Apprentice,” where he pitched the mythology of his business acumen, despite his numerous corporate bankruptcies.

He’s also sought to contrast his record as a big business boss with the life-choices of his rivals. In 2015, he famously dubbed the late senator John McCain a “loser” and said of the Vietnam veteran and prisoner-of-war, “I like people who weren’t captured.”

Just weeks before the election, meanwhile, Trump told supporters in Georgia that Biden was the “worst candidate in the history of presidential politics.”

“Could you imagine if I lose?” he mused, before adding: “Maybe I’ll have to leave the country?”

Lawrence Douglas, author of “Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020,” argued there are prudential reasons why remaining in high office is beneficial.

In addition to being hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, he is facing defamation cases by women who have accused him of sexual misconduct and even potential criminal charges stemming from his business practices — with his immunity ending when he is no longer president.

But beyond that, Trump’s refusal to concede helps keep his connection alive with his base, said Douglas. “In defeat, his brand will remain irresistible to his supporters.”

The Guardian

Mali Ex-President Amadou Toumani Toure Dies At 72

By

Akintomide Aroso

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November 10, 2020

Mali Ex-President Amadou Toumani Toure Dies At 72 — Amadou Toure

Mali’s former president Amadou Toumani Toure, who led the Sahel nation for 10 years before being ousted in a coup, has died in Turkey aged 72, a family member and a doctor said on Tuesday.

“Amadou Toumani Toure died during the night of Monday to Tuesday in Turkey,” where he had been taken for health reasons, his nephew Oumar Toure told AFP.

Ken Saro-Wiwa And The Ogoni 8: Unforgettable Injustice By Owens Wiwa

By

Akintomide Aroso

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November 10, 2020

Ken Saro-Wiwa And The Ogoni 8: Unforgettable Injustice By Owens Wiwa — Owens Saro-Wiwa

Martin Luther King, Jr., reminded us that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Twenty-five years ago, this November, my brother, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed for his work to rescue our Ogoni land in Nigeria from further destruction at the hands of Royal Dutch Shell. Not a day goes by that I do not miss Dede. He has especially been on my mind these past few years, and indeed more viscerally so in recent months.

There has been this lingering unease that we, the associates of Saro-Wiwa, and seekers of social change and environmental justice, have failed him. Do not get me wrong. There have been some changes: some of them transformational such as the increasing focus on global corporate social responsibility as corporations are held more accountable for their environmental stewardship or lack of it.

In parts of Ogoni, some incremental changes have occurred: the resumption of traditional environmental protection practices leading to greening of the land, fresh spring water no longer have shiny films of oil coatings or colorations. Farm yields are better, and fingerlings are back to some mangrove swamps. The Ogonis have sustained the struggle and have vehemently resisted attempts to restart oil operations in Ogoni without addressing the demands of the people. This is a major win that has preserved our dignity, our land.

The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) has also undertaken an independent study (though paid for by the polluters) of environmental devastation of Ogoni by Shell. The UNEP study provides compelling evidence and data that go some way to validate my brother’s claims. The UNEP report on the environmental devastation in Ogoni lays the blame of ecological waste of my community firmly at Shell’s door and reports that it may take 25-30 years to clean up our environment. The formation of HYPREP and its funding will go some way to reclaim the land. The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Presidential Task Force on Amnesty are some of the legacies of the struggle that, and if managed properly, can lead to positive outcomes.

Despite the above changes, the lingering feeling of letting Ken Saro-Wiwa down persists. The unresolved historical injustice against Ken and fellow Ogonis seems to suggest that the Ogoni arc of moral, if legal justice, is taking too long, and appears to be bending away from justice.

I do not know how Ken would have felt about the handing over of the Nigerian presidency from a Niger Delta man, Goodluck Jonathan, to former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari. Former President Jonathan appointed Justice Ibrahim Auta, who presided over the Civil Disturbances Tribunal, a military appointed kangaroo court, which sentenced Ken to death, as Chief Judge of Abuja High Court and gave a National Award to General Sani Abacha. Nigeria’s current President Buhari described former military ruler Sani Abacha, whose family is still returning hundreds of millions of dollars of stolen money, as a ‘good man’ and appointed Colonel Hameed Ali (Rtd), who served as a member of the Civil Disturbances Tribunal as an enlisted military officer, as the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs.

I do not know how Ken and 8 other Ogonis, and indeed our esteemed 4 Chiefs murdered on June 1994 would have felt if they know that ‘Our School to Land’ hectares of land in Bori, on which the Center for Excellence on Environmental Research was supposed to be built has now been converted to a prison and a cemetery. The only Federal presence in Ogoni in 25 years. A prison and A cemetery.

What kind of message does this send to the people of the Niger Delta? That if you protest the exploitation of your oil, your land, and your rivers, you get killed , and there is nothing anyone can do? And after that, they would seize your agricultural land and build a prison and a cemetery.

It was to public knowledge, locally and internationally, that the my brother was a nonviolent socio-economic, human and environmental rights activist whose non-violent activism was solely aimed at enhancing the welfare and well-being of Ogoni people, and the environmental protection of Ogoni land. His peaceful advocacy for environmental protection in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria angered the Royal Dutch Shell Oil Corporation, the perpetrators of environmental degradation in Ogoni land. Instigated by Royal Dutch Shell Oil Corporation, Nigeria’s military government in power at the time framed him on trumped up charges and eventually executed him.

It is public record how Ken Saro-Wiwa was subjected to a sham trial before a bogus tribunal, and hastily executed by the military regime of the late Gen. Abacha on November 10, 1995 and two days after he was sentenced to death on November 8, 1995 without being afforded the opportunity of exercising his constitutional right of appeal. The decree under which he was tried required the records to be transmitted to the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) as precondition for confirmation of the sentence. This was not done. In Nigeria, the right of appeal is mandatory wherever a trial court or tribunal imposed a death sentence. To exercise the right of appeal, the person sentenced is entitled to be given the record of proceeding. Ken and our other eight leaders were murdered before the Tribunal compiled its record of proceedings denying them this right. This was a terminal censorship at its worst.

There was national uproar and international condemnation occasioned by the executions. Nigeria was heavily sanctioned, ostracized, and isolated by the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, African countries, Asian, and Middle Eastern countries. Without a shadow of doubt, Ken Saro-Wiwa was arbitrarily and illegally executed by the Nigeria State for the socioeconomic and environmental causes he championed on behalf of his people and the Niger Delta. Up till date, there has been no apology from the Nigerian government, no exoneration, no declaration of innocence from the Federal Government of Nigeria despite many appeals. Only a prison and a cemetery.

Recently, the extrajudicial killing of innocent Nigerians going about their normal lives by Nigeria police’s notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), and the continuing summary extrajudicial killing of young Nigerians protesting the activities of SARS have made me to reflect again on the impunity that still persists in a democratic government. The response of Nigerians and indeed the international community through actions on the street, on social media and mainstream media brings back memories of November 10, 1995.

This time, we must make sure the arc of moral universe bends only toward justice for the sanity of the families of those killed and for those whose conscience were pricked and joined in the struggle for social justice. It is long overdue for the Federal Government of Nigeria to exonerate Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 Ogoni activists illegally murdered by the military dictatorship of Abacha and apologize to the families. We demand a clear exoneration. The Ogoni people demand a closure to this horrific injustice. As Ken himself would admonish, we will not be silent over this matter, for silence would indeed be treason.

The struggle continues

Owens Wiwa is a global health consultant and Ogoni activist.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Biden Announces 13-Member Panel

By

Akintomide Aroso

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November 10, 2020

COVID-19 Pandemic: Biden Announces 13-Member Panel — Joe Biden

The legal challenge mounted by President Donald Trump against his electoral victory notwithstanding, U.S. President-elect, Joe Biden, yesterday announced a 13-member COVID-19 advisory board to tackle the pandemic.

COVID-19 was a major factor in the 2020 elections, as Democrats rode on the back of Trump’s denial of the impact to win the election.

The panel is to be led by Dr. David Kessler, former commissioner for Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Vivek Murthy, former Surgeon General and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith of the Yale University School of Medicine.

The transition COVID-19 advisory board would guide preparations of Biden’s federal response to the coronavirus pandemic until he assumes office in January.

“Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts,” Biden said.

“The advisory board will help shape my approach to managing the surge in reported infections; ensuring vaccines are safe, effective, and distributed efficiently, equitably, and free; and protecting at-risk populations,” Biden said.

With 9.9 million cases, the U.S. has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus infections worldwide, according to data by the Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. also has the highest numbers of fatalities at 237,000 virus-related deaths.

Biden routinely slammed President Donald Trump for the current administration’s handling of the crisis.

AS Biden plots his presidential transition, Trump is still refusing to concede the election and has launched a flurry of court filings challenging the result.

While analysts are skeptical that Trump’s legal challenges could affect the outcome in any significant way, some have expressed reservations over Biden’s confidence about the final outcome.

Former Nigerian Aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode said whether anyone wishes to accept it or not, “the fact of the matter is that the election results have not been confirmed and the Electoral College has not formally met and declare the outcome.”

To add to that, Fani-Kayode noted in his verified twitter account, that there are serious and credible claims of fraud, cheating, perfidy, voter suppression and election irregularities, which the courts are yet to look into.

According to him, there is still a long way to go before the whole matter is brought to an end and formally concluded.

He said: “Congratulating the candidate of a political party that may well have ruthlessly and corruptly rigged his way to what is likely to end up being a pyrrhic and short-lived victory is not in our nation’s interest, not the way to enhance strengthen, support and entrench democracy and does not speak well of those who have done so.

“Whether you support Biden or Trump, let us, at least, wait for the matter to be properly concluded and a winner officially declared by the relevant authorities before we start dishing out our congratulatory messages. If President Donald Trump eventually prevails and he is sworn in on January 20th for a second term, there are going to be a lot of very red faces on the world stage.”

While Trump has still refused to concede defeat and, so, unwilling to constitute transition panel, Biden team has started a transition website and twitter account.

MEANWHILE, Drugmaker, Pfizer yesterday said an early look at data from its Coronavirus vaccine shows it is more than 90 per cent effective, a much better than expected efficacy if the trend continues.

Its interim analysis looked at the first 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the more than 43,000 volunteers who got either two doses of the vaccine or a placebo. It found that fewer than 10 per cent of infections were in participants who had been given the vaccine. More than 90 per cent of the cases were in people who had been given a placebo.

Pfizer said that the vaccine, made with German partner BioNTech, had an efficacy rate higher than 90 per cent at seven days after the second dose, which means protection is achieved 28 days after a person begins vaccination. The vaccine requires two doses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it would expect at least 50 per cent efficacy from any coronavirus vaccine.

In an interview with CNN, Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta yesterday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla called the COVID-19 vaccine “the greatest medical advance” in the last 100 years.

“Emotions are very high. You can imagine how I felt when I heard the results yesterday at 2 p.m. I think that, based on impact, this will be the greatest medical advance in the last 100 years,” Bourla said.

NIGERIANS, yesterday, expressed excitement over the possibility that 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine could be available for use before the end of 2020.

The companies have said they should be able to produce 1.3 billion doses, enough to vaccinate 650 million people by the end of 2021. Only 50 million doses are expected to be available in 2020.

According to reports, Pfizer shares rose eight per cent in early trading, with BioNTech American depositary receipts up about 19 per cent. The news added more than $500 billion to the value of the MSCI All Country World Index.

A virologist and Chairman, Expert Review Committee on COVID-19, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, urged caution, adding, “We should wait to see the duration of immunity. There is a need to further study the details of the trial as development of antibodies to the vaccine does not necessarily equate to efficacy, that is, actual protection against the disease, under natural challenge.”

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the world urgently needs an effective vaccine. “We are waiting for the approval by relevant bodies, especially the World Health Organisation (WHO).”

A vaccinologist and former researcher at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) Abuja, Dr. Simon Agwale, said, “We are already reviewing the results.”

Prior to the breakthrough, “there were about 15 clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. It was time for Nigeria to build its clinical trial capacity so that the country could participate in important studies,” he said.

An Ikeja-based medical expert, Prof. Oladapo Ashiru said, “A vaccine for COVID-19 is a welcomed initiative. It would begin to drive down rapidly the number of daily cases of the infection. It can therefore be projected that by the early 2021 life can return back to normal.”

#EndSARS: Gombe Panel Yet To Receive Any Petition

By

Akintomide Aroso

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November 10, 2020

#EndSARS: Gombe Panel Yet To Receive Any Petition

The Gombe State Judicial Panel of Inquiry into complaints of human rights violations by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad says it has yet to receive memoranda from members of the public.

The panel was inaugurated more than a week ago by Gombe State governor, Inuwa Yahaya.

The secretary of the panel and the acting Director of Public Prosecutions in the state, Mohammed Kumo, said the commission was still expecting victims of police brutality to come forward with their complaints.

Kumo said, “We are yet to receive memoranda from members of the public, but we are still waiting for a memo. As you are aware, the commission has expanded its window of communication; we can also receive entries through emails.

“We have two desk officers for those who want to file their complaints manually.”

APC To Hold NEC Meeting Before Christmas, Convention In 2021

By

Akintomide Aroso

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November 10, 2020

APC To Hold NEC Meeting Before Christmas, Convention In 2021 — Mai Mala Buni

There were strong indications on Monday that the National Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress would meet before December 25.

It was gathered that because of the limited time at the disposal of the party’s National Convention Planning Committee, it would seek an extension of its tenure for six months during the meeting.

Multiple sources in the party, who confided in our correspondent, said it was becoming inevitable that the national convention would hold next year.

Recall that the APC NEC at its meeting in the Presidential Villa on June 25, 2020, dissolved the Adams Oshiomhole National Working Committee and set up a panel headed by the Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni.

According to the decision reached at the NEC meeting and the constitution of the party, the Buni-led interim committee has a six-month tenure within which it is expected to organise a national convention, where substantive leaders of the party will emerge.

But multiple sources within the party’s hierarchy, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity on Monday because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the issue, said it was now almost certain that “the convention can no longer hold this year.”

One of the sources said, “The process of rebuilding anything takes time, efforts and patience. The wounds inflicted on cohesion within the party by Adams Oshiomhole are still fresh.

“You will agree with me that the National Caretaker Committee started the reconciliation process while preparing for the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, respectively.

“With these elections over, they are just settling down to the real business of reconciling aggrieved party members and have just set in motion the machinery for the planned nationwide registration, update and revalidation of the party’s membership register.

“These are needed not just for record purposes, but to ensure that those who will participate in our forthcoming convention are actually party members. Other things being equal, we should have our National Executive Council meeting on or before December 25, when the initial six months given to the caretaker committee will lapse.”

Another party leader said, “It is almost certain that the interim committee is not prepared to hold the convention this year. If it is ready, it would have started preparations from the ward level. Besides, no timetable has been released for the convention.”

Hold Convention In December Or Resign, Marafa Group Tells Buni

However, a factional leader of the party in Zamfara State, Senator Kabiru Marafa, restated his position that the caretaker committee, which was a creation of compromise, would be overreaching itself if it failed to hold a national convention by December.

He said, “Our position is clear; the Buni committee was given six months to conduct a national convention to elect substantive leaders of the party; that has not changed. It is either Buni does this by December or he resigns.”

The spokesperson for a group of party supporters under the aegis of Concerned APC Members, Abdullahi Dauda, while supporting Marafa’s position said, “We are waiting. The tenure of the committee will expire in December, so we expect our convention to hold on or before the expiration of the tenure of the caretaker committee. A fresh registration of members is not part of their mandate; they should leave that one for the incoming NWC.”

Disregard Marafa, He’s Not An APC Member – Zamfara Faction

However, the National Secretariat recognised APC Chairman in Zamfara State, Alhaji Lawal Liman, in a statement titled: ‘Marafa Remains Suspended – Zamfara APC’, issued in Abuja on Monday in response to Marafa, said, “As far as we are concerned in the APC in Zamfara, Senator Marafa remains suspended because in 2019, we suspended him in accordance with the party’s constitution and our decision has been forwarded to the APC national secretariat, Abuja.

“We are calling on the National Caretaker Committee of the party to ratify his suspension. Therefore, members of the public should not regard him as a member of the APC. We don’t consider Marafa as our member, because he is being used by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to disrupt the peace and stability in the party.”

We Didn’t Envisage Enormity Of Our Assignment, Says Buni Panel

When contacted, the Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, Senator John Akpan Udo-Edehe, said in an interview on Monday that every member of the party had a right to hold and express an opinion.

He, however, said the party under the leadership of Buni, was currently focused on its core mandate of reconciling aggrieved members.

According to him, the committee is working hard to ensure that party members go into the convention as one united family.

Udo-Edehe said, “The important thing is that when the six-month tenure was given to us by NEC, it did not envisage that the enormous crises in the party would take this long to resolve. When we took over, we went round the country to meet our leaders and explain things to them.

“The party brought us from all over Nigeria, because you cannot play politics, especially in the APC, without reaching out to (Asiwaju Ahmed) Tinubu and Baba (Bisi) Akande; we went and explained things to them; that was the first thing we did.

“We inherited a crisis from the former NWC; we had a crisis in Edo and had to set up a committee headed by Ken Nnamani, the former Senate President, to reconcile everybody so that we could win. We had a situation where our state chairman accused the other group of working with the opposition party. We went for the campaign and election; how many months did that take?

“We went on to conduct the primary in Ondo and it took a lot of time; other aspirants were against the governor and we had to bring them on board so that we could win; this took time.

“We set up a reconciliation committee headed by the Niger State Governor. When we came back, we had to organise primaries to replace senators, who died and those that were removed by courts.

“When we finished, COVID-19 came and because of the COVID-19 protocols, we could not gather. Even with that, we were preparing that INEC will hold the elections and the #EndSARS protests came and you cannot play politics under that atmosphere; even INEC had to postpone the elections and it doesn’t have a date for the elections yet.

“We don’t have the power to extend our stay; we are not asking for it; we are all very busy people. Those, who are saying we should not go ahead with the registration, go to your APC ward chairman and ask him to give you the register of members in your ward if he has one. What we want to do is to complement what was done before; we want to have a proper register of members and have a database.”

He added, “We want to build the party from bottom up. If you are going for a convention, are you not going to elect delegates and in a state where you have a parallel exco, who do you elect? We don’t want to leave loopholes. We want to return the party back to the real owners, the ordinary people.

“It is only when you finish what you are doing that you take a timetable to those who sent you; it is left for them to agree or disagree.”

He, however, refused to speak on the proposed date for the NEC meeting and whether or not the committee would be requesting additional time.

It’s Important We Hold Convention As A United Party, Says Nabena

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Yekini Nabena, who also spoke in a similar vein, said while a section of the media had been awash with reports of a tenure extension for the committee, it remained focused on achieving and sustaining its core mandate of reconciliation.

He said, “It is important that the APC conducts its planned national convention to produce the party’s national leadership as a united house. Otherwise, the main aim of constituting the CECPC following the dissolution of the immediate-past National Working Committee will be defeated.”

According to him, the Buni-led CECPC has over the past few months displayed an uncommon determination to rebuild the party from the ashes of the crises, which led to the dissolution of the former NWC.

He maintained that it remained to the credit of the committee that it was able to reconcile aggrieved members in at least 10 states of the federation and had brought on board notable party members for one reason or the other.

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