Headline

UK To Test Alert System On Millions Of Phones

Published

1 month ago

April 23, 2023

The UK will conduct its first test of a new emergency alert service on Sunday, with millions of mobile phones set to emit a loud alarm and vibrate at 3:00pm (1400 GMT).

The national system, modelled on similar schemes in Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States, aims to warn the public if there is a danger to life nearby but has generated criticism over “nanny state” intrusion.

A message will say: “This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.”

Emergency services and the government hope to use the system to alert people to issues such as severe flooding and fires.

The 10-second alarm, which will sound even if phones are on silent, is expected to disrupt entertainment and sporting events, including Premier League football matches.

Organisers of the World Snooker Championship will pause play just before the alert, while the Society of London Theatre has advised its members to tell audiences to turn off their phones.

Drivers have been warned not to pick up their phones during the test, and people who do not wish to receive the alerts can opt out in their device settings.

“Keep Calm and Carry On. That is the British way and it is exactly what the country will do when they receive this test alert at 3:00 pm today,” said Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden.

“The government’s number-one job is to keep people safe and this is another tool in the toolkit for emergency situations.”

– ‘Terrifying’ –

But some Conservative figures have criticised the plan, with former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg urging people to defy the government’s calls and “switch off the unnecessary and intrusive alert”.

“It is back to the nanny state -– warning us, telling us, mollycoddling us when instead they should just let people get on with their lives,” he said.

Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine, ex-wife of government minister Michael Gove, called the plans “terrifying”.

“This Sunday, at 3pm… the government intends to rattle our collective cages by invading our mobile phones — and our privacy — with its absurd emergency test signal. The notion is as terrifying as it is tiresome,” she wrote.

“Terrifying because it’s a reminder of the tyranny imposed on all of us by the technology that has invaded our homes like Japanese knotweed, infiltrating every aspect of our daily lives,” she added.

Dowden sought to play down privacy and intrusion fears, saying “all people need to do is swipe away the message or click “OK”.

“The test is secure, free to receive and one-way, and does not reveal anyone’s location or collect personal data,” he added.

Judy Edworthy, an international expert in alarm systems and psychology professor at the University of Plymouth, said the alert system was a positive development, even if its first airing may surprise people.

“Despite the message explaining it is a test, I expect some people may well be astonished,” she told the domestic Press Association.

MPs also criticised the decision to hand the lucrative IT contract for the alert system to Fujitsu, the Japanese firm responsible for faulty software in the Post Office system that led to innocent sub-postmasters receiving fraud convictions.

Headline

Tribunal Admits U.S. Court Judgment Ordering Tinubu’s Forfeiture Of $460,000

Published

6 hours ago

May 31, 2023

Editor

The Labour Party on Tuesday called its first witness in the ongoing petition between its candidate, Peter Obi, and the ruling All Progressives Congress and the President, Bola Tinubu.

Counsel for the LP and Obi, Jibrin Okutepa, stated that documents from number one to four together with receipts tendered are documents where the vice president, Kashim Shettima, accepted his nomination as the vice-presidential candidate of the APC.

The witness, Lawrence Nwakaeti, who is a legal practitioner, disclosed that he was deposed to the witness statement on March 20, 2023.

Part of the documents deposed to by Nwakaeti referred to the alleged $460,000 forfeiture by Tinubu to the government of the United States.

One of the grounds on which the LP and Obi are praying for the court to nullify Tinubu’s victory is that the president, Tinubu “at the time of the election was not qualified to contest for election to the office of President as he was fined the sum of $460,000 for an offence involving dishonesty, namely narcotics trafficking imposed by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483.”

While answering questions during the cross-examination, the witness admitted that the judgment was not registered in Nigeria.

He also admitted that there was no certificate from any consular in Nigeria or America in support of the judgment.

He, however, maintained that “the judgment speaks for itself.”

APC counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, asked, “As a lawyer, you are aware that these documents are not registered in Nigeria and there is no certificate attached to the document from the US?” to which Lawrence replied that there are certificates.

“Is there a certificate from the US consular?”

“No certificate from the consular,” Nwakaeti replied.

He also said he had no knowledge of a February 4, 2003, Formal Clearance Report by Legal Attachee from the American Embassy in respect of the alleged indictment and forfeiture.

When asked by Fagbemi, SAN, to produce a copy of the charges against Tinubu, the witness said he had none but maintained that the forfeiture are from civil proceedings.

“You are aware that all the proceedings were civil proceedings?”

“Civil forfeiture proceedings,” the witness replied.

Meanwhile, the Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani has shifted further hearing in the petition till May 31.

Headline

Otti Freezes Abia Accounts, Sacks Boards Executives

Published

20 hours ago

May 30, 2023

Editor

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, has directed the immediate freezing of all accounts of the state government and those of its agencies domiciled in every bank and financial institution across the state and around the federation.

He has also dissolved all boards of Abia State government agencies and parastatals and ordered the heads of all the dissolved agencies and parastatals to subsequently hand over to those next in line to them.

The governor gave the orders in a statement he issued through his media office on Monday, which was signed by Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.

The directive read in part, “With this notice, all banks and other financial institutions in the country are directed to immediately seize from honouring any cheque, document, instrument or directive of any kind not expressly approved by or emanating from him.

“Similarly, Governor Otti has directed the immediate dissolution of all boards of the Abia State Government agencies and parastatals and subsequently ordered the chief executives of these organisations to hand over to those next in line to them”.

The reporter gathered that the news of the sack of the former chief executives of the dissolved boards sparked celebration among staff of such agencies, especially those who were owed some months of salary arrears.

Headline

PICTORIAL: Obi, Datti, Keyamo Present As Tribunal Resumes Hearing

Published

1 day ago

May 30, 2023

Editor

The presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the Labour Party, Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed, are currently in attendance at the ongoing presidential election tribunal PUNCH reports.

Former minister of state for labour and employment, Festus Keyamo, is also present at the tribunal and appearing as a counsel in the legal team of President Bola Tinubu.

Obi and the Labour Party filed a petition challenging the victory of Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, in the February 25, 2023 Presidential election.

In the petition marked CA/PEPC/03/2023, Livy Ozoukwu, lead counsel to LP and Obi, said Tinubu “was not duly elected by the majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election”.

Among other allegations, they claimed that Kashim Shettima, vice-president, had a double nomination in contravention of the electoral act.

A proper hearing of the petition commenced on Tuesday and the first witness has been called.

See photos below: