20122019 - Malabu, P&ID: Adoke returns, arrested by EFCC

40— VANGUARD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2019
Trump impeachment: Action moves to Senate
THE Democratic-led
House of
Representatives voted
largely along party lines
to impeach US
President Donald
Trump for obstruction of
Congress and abuse of
power over his dealings
with Ukraine.
Trump is only the third
United States president
to be impeached. Three
other presidents that
have also been
impeached were Andrew
Nelson and Bill Clinton.
No president has ever
been removed from office
via the impeachment
process.
The landmark votes
on Wednesday set up a
likely January trial in the
Republican-controlled
Senate, where Trump is
expected to be
acquitted.
As politicians move to
the trial phase, here’s
what to expect next:
The charges against
Trump
Trump was
impeached on
charges that he abused
his power in office and
obstructed Congress
during the impeachment
investigation.
Democrats accuse
Trump of pressuring
Ukraine to open an
investigation into the
president’s political rival
and former vice
president, Joe Biden,
who is also a frontrunner
in the 2020 Democratic
presidential race. They
also charge that the
president obstructed
their investigation by
refusing to comply with
subpoenas and directing
members of his
administration to do the
same.
The impeachment
inquiry, launched in
September following a
whistle-blower
complaint, was centred
on a July 25 phone call
during which Trump
asked Ukrainian
President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy to open an
investigation into Biden
and his son, Hunter, who
had served on the board
of a Ukrainian gas
company. There has been
no evidence of
wrongdoing by the
Bidens.
Trial moves to Senate
The articles of
impeachment are now
expected to be sent to the
Senate, where senators
will consider evidence,
hear witnesses and vote
to acquit or convict the
president. The chief
justice of the US
Supreme Court presides
over the trial.
A two-thirds majority
vote is required in the
100-member Senate to
convict and remove a
president from office. A
President Trump and Speaker Pelosi
conviction appears
unlikely in the case of
Trump.
The Senate is made up
of 53 Republicans, 45
Democrats and two
independents who
caucus with the
Democrats. At least 20
Republicans would
have to vote with all
Democrats and the two
independents to
remove the president
from office.
Senate Majority
Leader Mitch
McConnell has
indicated that he would
like swift proceedings,
but the president has
said he would not mind
a robust trial, with
testimony from a
number of witnesses,
including Biden and the
whistle-blower whose
complaint led to the
impeachment inquiry.
Speaker Pelosi
strategic move
But following
Wednesday’s
impeachment votes,
Pelosi said she would
wait, for now, to send
the articles of
impeachment to the
Senate.
US media have
reported that some
House Democrats are
urging Pelosi to
withhold the transmittal
of the articles until the
“appropriate time”.
Pelosi on Wednesday
evaded questions about
when she plans to send
the articles to the
Senate.
“It would have been
our intention” to send
the articles to the
Senate, but “we’ll see
what happens over
there,” Pelosi told
reporters.
“We cannot name
managers until we see
what the process is on
the Senate side,” Pelosi
said, referring to
members who will serve
as House prosecutors in
a Senate trial. “So far we
have not seen anything
that looks fair to us”.
Withholding the
articles of impeachment
may give the Democrats
leverage when it comes
to setting the procedures
for the trial.
Pelosi said Democrats
will make a decision on
next steps as “a group”.
When will a Senate
trial take place?
Once the Senate
receives the articles of
impeachment, a trial can
begin.
No firm date for a
Senate trial has been set,
but McConnell has said
it will be the chamber’s
“first order of business”
upon returning to
Washington, DC, in the
new year.
Senate Democrats have
proposed a trial plan that
would see proceedings
begin on January 6.
Presentations by House
managers, who would
effectively work as
prosecutors, would begin
on January 9 under this
plan. It is unlikely that
Senate Republicans
would agree to the
Democrats’ exact
proposal.
Who would become
president if Trump
was removed?
In the unlikely event
that the Senate convicts
and removes Trump from
office, Vice President
Mike Pence would
become president and
complete Trump’s term,
which ends on January
20, 2021.
Togolese protest against Gnassimgbe’s fourth
term bid
By Chiamaka Uba &
Rose Chukwu
THOUSANDS of
Togolese nationals
yesterday staged a
protested at the Lagos,
office of Economic
Community of West
African States, ECOW-
AS, against President
Faure Gnassimgbe’s
ploy to run for a fourth
term.
Faure is seeking to
extend his tenure to 20
years after he took over
from his father,
Gnassimgbe Eyadema
who ruled the country for
33 years.
Speaking during the
protest, Secretary of
Togolese in Diapora,
Tchassama Mourtala the
purpose of the protest is
to seek the assistance of
ECOWAS, United
Nations and the
National Commission of
Refugees to prevail on
President Faure to
jettison his fourth term
ambition.
He insisted that
Togolese want change
which should start with
a transitionary
government and an
amendment to the
constitution.
Mourtala said
thousand of Togoless
home and abroad will
continue to oppose
President Faure’s
ambition and demand
that the country be
governed through a
Johnson hails ‘radical’
Queen’s speech
BORIS Johnson has
claimed his
programme for
government is the “most
radical Queen’s Speech
in a generation”.
The prime minister
said planned new laws
to toughen up criminal
justice and increase
NHS spending would
deliver on the “people’s
priorities”.
But his main priority is
the UK’s exit from the EU
on 31 January.
Labour leader Jeremy
Corbyn said many of the
PM’s promises
mimicked the “language
of Labour policy but
without the substance”.
“They say imitation is
the sincerest form of
flattery, even when it’s a
very pale imitation, but
I fear those swayed by
the prime minister’s
constitution that is
agreed by the people of
Togo.
“The Togolese people
have, today, taken
control of the situation.
They are therefore ready,
at any time, to oppose
this suicidal candidacy
for the good of our
country. The current
calm that one observes is
only a deceptive one
because it is precarious.
promises will be sorely
disappointed,” added
the Labour leader.
And SNP Westminster
leader Ian Blackford
accused the PM of
“denying [Scotland] the
right to choose our own
future” referring to the
SNP’s desire for another
referendum on Scottish
independence.
“Why did democracy
stop in the prime
minister’s world with
the independence
referendum in 2014?” he
asked.
But Boris Johnson said
he felt a “colossal sense
of obligation” to the
voters.
He told MPs that “a
new golden age for this
United Kingdom is now
within reach” adding
that the government
would “work flat out to
deliver it”.
Several killed, hundreds held in
India citizenship law protests
INDIANS are defying
bans on assembly in
cities nationwide as anger
swells against a citizenship
law seen as discriminatory
against Muslims,
following days of protests
and clashes that have left
nine dead.
Two people have died of
injuries suffered in violent
protests in the southern
Indian city of Mangaluru,
on Thursday, according to
hospital officials. They said
that at least one of the two
killed had been shot.
Local government official
Sindhu Rupeh said there
had been clashes between
stone-throwing crowds
and police in Mangaluru
since Thursday afternoon,
despite restrictions
imposed on public
gatherings.
Another person died
during protests in the Uttar
Pradesh state capital of
Lucknow as police
struggled to disperse
protesters. Three were
injured.
Stone-throwing
protesters clashed with
police and set fire to
vehicles in Lucknow,
where orders prohibiting
gatherings of more than five
people are in place.
“ If Faure Gnassingbe
does not take measure of
the situation, the
Togolese people, in their
struggle for freedom and
prosperity, will force
him to give Up his quest
for a fourth term at the
country’s helm of
affairs. The Togolese
people now have a
better understanding of
the Niamey Declaration
of October 4, 2019,” he
said.
Togolese National in Nigeria, protest to the Ecowas office over the 4th
terms attempt of the president Faure Gnassigbe, in Lagos, yesterday. Photo:
KEHINDE SHONOLA.