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US Election: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump In Final Push For Votes Tomorrow

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Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have kicked into high gear, making a last-ditch effort to sway voters in key U.S. swing states with only 48 hours left until Election Day.

This frantic push is crucial in a presidential election that’s been bitterly contested and historically close.

“The fate of our nation is in your hands. On Tuesday, you have to stand up,” Trump said at his first rally of the day in Pennsylvania, where he doubled down on unfounded claims of election rigging.

AFP reports that over 76 million people have cast early ballots ahead of Tuesday’s climax and the battle is down to the wire – with more states functionally tied in polls at this point than in any comparable election.

The closeness of the race is all the more remarkable given its dramatic twists and the fact that the candidates could hardly be further apart in their campaign styles and visions for the future.

A final New York Times/Siena poll on Sunday flagged some incremental changes in the key battleground states, but the results from all seven remained firmly within the margin of error.

Harris – desperate to shore up the Great Lakes states seen as essential to any Democratic ticket – was to spend the day in Michigan, beginning in Detroit before a stop in Pontiac and an evening rally at Michigan State University.

Trump’s Sunday timetable centred on Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, the three biggest prizes in the “Electoral College” system that awards states influence according to their population.

Trump is expected to reject the results if he loses, as he did four years ago.

On Sunday, he seized on isolated irregularities caught by election officials to amplify his claims of widespread “cheating.”

“They are fighting so hard to steal this damn thing,” he insisted at the rally.

Republicans are also scrambling to contain fallout in Pennsylvania – home to a large Puerto Rican community – after a speaker at Trump’s New York rally prompted outrage by describing the US territory as a “floating island of garbage.”

Like Pennsylvania, Michigan is among the seven closely watched battlegrounds.

Trump flipped the state, a former Democratic stronghold, on his way to defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016. Joe Biden returned it to the Democratic column in 2020, buoyed by unionised workers and a large Black community.

But this time, Harris risks losing the support of a 200,000-strong Arab-American community that has denounced Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Pollsters have noted an erosion in Black support for the Democratic ticket and Harris’s aides acknowledge that they still have work to do to turn out enough African American men to match Biden’s winning coalition in 2020.

But with reproductive rights emerging as a top voter concern, her campaign has taken some comfort from the large proportion of women turning out among the early voters.

Harris wrapped a day on the campaign trail Saturday with a surprise appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” mocking her presidential election rival Donald Trump on the iconic sketch show.

“Keep Kamala and carry on-ala!” the vice president said in a well-received appearance alongside Maya Rudolph, the comedian who has been playing her as “America’s fun aunt” on the show.

Keen on as much TV exposure as possible, the Harris campaign has booked a two-minute spot to air during Sunday’s NFL football games, including the matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, both from crucial swing states.

In the ad, Harris pledges to be “a president for all Americans” and promises to “build a brighter future for our nation.”

Her campaign said its own research shows the “last week has proven decisive in cementing the choice in this election with both undecided and lower-propensity voters,” particularly the contrast of two candidates’ closing argument rallies.

Harris, 60, got a boost Saturday in Iowa as the final Des Moines Register poll before Election Day — seen as a highly credible test of wider public sentiment — showed a stunning turnaround, with Harris ahead in a state won easily by Trump in 2016 and 2020.

At his morning rally in Pennsylvania, Trump dismissed the findings as a “fake poll.”

BIG STORY

JUST IN: Tinubu Directs Immediate Release Of Minors Facing Prosecution

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Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has directed that all the minors arrested and facing prosecution in court over their alleged involvement in the #EndBadGovernance protest should immediately be released without prejudice to the law.

This follows the national outrage and international consternation that trailed the trial of the minors.

President Tinubu also directed the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to see to the welfare of the minors.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents, in Abuja.

The Minister said that the President said all the law enforcement agents involved in the arrest, detention and prosecution of the minors be investigated and anyone found culpable, would face appropriate disciplinary action.

 

More to come…

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Court Orders Arrest Of Dana Airline MD, Hathiramani Ranesh, Over Alleged N1.3 Billion Fraud

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A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an arrest warrant for the Managing Director of Dana Air, Mr. Hathiramani Ranesh, due to his alleged failure to appear in court.

The Attorney General of the Federation had filed a six-count charge against Ranesh and two others.

In count one, Ranesh and the two companies, alongside others at large, were alleged to have committed a felony between September and December 2018 within the premises of DANA Steel Rolling Factory in Katsina. They were accused of conspiring to remove, convert, and sell four units of industrial generators “i.e. three (3) units Ht of 9,000 KVA and 1 unit of 1,000 KVA; all valued at over N450 million, which form part of the Deed of Asset Debenture that were charged as collateral security for a bond issued in your favour, which Deed is still subsisting at all material times.”

In count three, the defendants and others at large at House No. 116, Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Isolo-Lagos between April 7th and 8th, 2014, were alleged to have conspired to fraudulently divert the sum of N864 million.

This amount was said to be part of the bond proceeds from Ecobank meant for the resuscitation of production at Dana Steel Rolling Factory in Katsina for other unapproved uses.

In count five, the defendants and others at large were alleged to have “conspired to fraudulently remove and transfer to one Atlantic Shrimpers Account No: 0001633175 with Access Bank and divert the sum of N60,300,000 (Sixty Million Three Hundred Thousand Naira).”

The total amount involved in the charges is N1,374,300,000.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu ruled that Ranesh’s arrest was necessary after he was served with charges and failed to attend multiple court proceedings.

The judge noted that according to Section 184 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, the court is authorized to issue an arrest warrant for any defendant who does not show up.

Justice Egwuatu stated, “The 1st defendant is bound to appear before the court, and if he does not, the court can issue a warrant for his arrest.” Consequently, he issued a warrant for Ranesh’s arrest, requiring him to appear in court on January 13, 2025, before any objections can be addressed. The case has been adjourned until that date for further hearing.

The Federal Government’s attorney, Mojisola-Okeya Esho, had previously requested the bench warrant, citing Ranesh’s absence in connection with a N1.3 billion fraud case against him.

However, defense lawyer B. Ademola-Bello contended that they had filed a preliminary objection regarding the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case, which had already been served to the prosecution.

Esho opposed the preliminary objection, asserting that the defendants should be present. Justice Egwuatu, who gave his ruling, ordered that Ranesh be arrested and brought to court on the nexta djourned date.

 

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JUST IN: President Tinubu Swears In Seven Ministers

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Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has sworn in seven ministers-designates.

The ceremony was held in the council chamber of the Aso Rock villa on Monday.

The ministers-designate were confirmed by the senate in the committee of the whole after a screening exercise last week.

The senators spent hours asking them questions on portfolios assigned to them by the president.

The upper legislative chamber confirmed Nentawe Yilwatda as minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi as minister of labour and employment, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu as minister of state for foreign affairs, and Yusuf Abdullahi Ata as minister of state for housing and urban development.

Others are Idi Mukhtar Maiha as minister of livestock development, Jumoke Oduwole as minister of trade and investment, and Suwaiba Said Ahmad as the minister of state for education.

About two weeks ago, Tinubu sacked five ministers and asked the senate to screen and confirm these new ones to fill vacant and new portfolios in his cabinet.

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