We’ve mobilised 70,000 members to PDP – Group

A group within the All Progressives Congress, Justice Forum, says 70,000 of its members in the South-West have defected to the Peoples Democratic Party.

About 3,000 defectors who converged on the Salvador Towers in Surulere, said they left the APC because the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had abandoned them after they helped his party to win elections.

Speaking with journalists at the event, the leader of the group, Chief David Abidakun, explained that the members were from across the South-West and not Lagos alone.

He noted that the group was one of the major founding groups of the Alliance for Democracy and later became the most populous group in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria that merged to form the APC.

He said, “We are not counting the number of people here but our membership. We have a membership of over 70, 000 in the South-West and all of us will join the PDP in our various states in the South-West after the formal ceremony

“We believe that the PDP is the place to be and so we have decided to be part of the winning team.”

The Deputy Chairman of the PDP in Lagos, Chief Sikiru Apena, who received the defectors, promised to treat them like old members of the PDP.

When contacted, however, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said the defection was meaningless, describing it as the biggest joke of 2014.

Igbokwe, who said the crowd at the venue was rented by the PDP, described the event as a charade.

He said, “It is of zero consequence. Those that defected have no weight. They have no strength, no finance and no training to make an impact. It is the biggest joke of 2014. It is a rented crowd. You know when you give people about N2, 000 each, they will come for any event.

“No serious person will be in that group. Tell me, where could they get 70,000 members from? In law, such an action is called ‘Brutum Fulmen.’ It has zero consequence.”

North Korea calls president Obama a monkey after blaming US for shutting down its internet

North Korea blamed the US for its internet outtage (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

North Korea has compared president Barack Obama to a monkey and blamed the United States for shutting down its internet after it was accused of hacking Sony Pictures over The Interview movie.
The communist regime said the US president was behind the release of the film and described the movie as illegal, dishonest and reactionary.
‘Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest,’ an unidentified spokesman at the commission’s Policy Department said in a statement carried by the country’s state news service, Korean Central News Agency.
In May, the news agency published a dispatch saying Obama had the ‘shape of a monkey.’
MORE: Pictured: West Sussex couple found dead in apparent Christmas suicide pact

President Barack Obama, with first lady Michelle Obama (Picture: AP)

North Korea had denied involvement in the crippling cyberattack, but expressed anger over the comedy, which depicted the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Sony Pictures initially called off the release of the film, citing threats of terror attacks against US movie theatres, but following widespread criticism of the decision, including from Obama, the movie opened this week.
MORE: Brain-dead woman’s life support machine can be switched off despite pregnancy, court rules

The Interview opened this week (Picture: Reuters)

North Korea’s defence commission also blamed Washington for intermittent outages of its websites this past week, which happened after the US had promised to respond to the Sony hack.
The US has so far declined to say if it was behind the shutdown.

Wike accuses Amaechi of funding Buhari’s campaign with N30bn

campaign of the All Progressives Congress.

Wike explained that the development had made it impossible for the state government to pay workers’ salaries, adding that the governor was using state resources to fund the APC with the hope that he would be picked as the running mate to the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

The PDP governorship candidate pointed out that Amaechi was being deceived by the leadership of the APC to continue to fund the party, adding that the APC leadership had never been interested in selecting the governor as Buhari’s running mate.

Speaking during his thank-you visit to Ikwerre Local Government Area on Thursday, Wike noted that the future of Nigerians was in the PDP and not the APC.

“Do you know why workers’ salaries have not been paid? Amaechi spent N30bn in funding the presidential campaign of the APC. They (the APC leadership) allowed him to spend the money and later, they called him mugu (fool).

“They (the APC leadership) said we will not make this ‘boy’ who does not respect the President (Goodluck Jonathan) the vice president. We should know that our future is in the PDP and not the APC,” Wike stressed.

The former minister also decried the statement credited to the APC governorship candidate in the state, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, that he (Peterside) would build on Amaechi legacy.

According to him, some of the governor’s actions on the state judiciary, monorail project were not worth continuing as a legacy.

Reacting to Wike’s allegation, the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, said the PDP governorship candidate spoke without fact, even as she challenged him to show any proof that Amaechi was funding the APC.

“It is unbelievable that a man who wants to be the governor of this state can make such an unbelievable statement without any proof. We challenge him (Wike) to show proof that Governor Amaechi spent N30bn to fund the APC campaign.”

Sudan orders senior UN officials to leave

2014-12-26 08:59
Khartoum - Sudan has ordered two senior United Nations officials to leave, a UN spokesperson said on Thursday, after a recent spike in tensions between Khartoum and the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
The UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator Ali Zaatari and the UN Development Programme country director Yvonne Helle were asked by the government to leave, a UN staffer said.
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN has protested the expulsions.

"The UN has filed a protest with the government of Sudan following their decision to request the departure of two senior UN officials from the country," Dujarric told AFP.

It was unclear clear why the UN officials were asked to leave, or when they would have to exit the country.
The UN staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to provide further details.
The UNDP and Sudanese foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Zaatari, a Jordanian national, had been in Sudan for nearly two years, and Helle, who is from the Netherlands, had spent about a year heading the UNDP's office in the country.

Also Read: Sudan rights group's office raided

The expulsions come as Sudan's government is locked in a dispute with the hybrid UN-African union mission in Darfur.

Ties between the two have frayed over Khartoum's anger at Unamid's attempts to investigate a report that government troops raped 200 women and girls in a village in the war-torn western region on 31 October.
Sudan demanded Unamid form an "exit strategy" from Darfur, where they have been deployed since 2007 and ordered it to shut a human rights office in Khartoum last month.

Zaatari and Helle's expulsion are the latest in a string of incidents with foreign aid and humanitarian workers in Sudan.

In April, the government told the American chief of the UN Population Fund in Sudan to leave for "interfering" in internal affairs.

The UN and international NGOs provide aid to some of the areas of Sudan worst affected by the conflicts wracking its peripheries.

The government is battling an insurgency in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, as well as a protracted conflict in Darfur.

Ethnic insurgents rebelled against Khartoum in 2003 complaining they were being marginalized, and in the intervening 11 years, the UN says some 300 000 people have been killed and two million displaced.

- AFP

Father asks ISIS to treat captured son as guest

2014-12-26 08:59
Amman - The father of a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State fighters after his plane crashed in Syria said he did not consider his son a hostage and called on his captors to treat him as a "guest".

Jordan is one of several Arab countries participating in the US-led military mission to bomb fighters from the Islamist group, which holds territory in both Syria and Iraq.

First Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh, 27, was captured after his jet crashed in northeast Syria on Wednesday during a bombing mission against the militants. The US military, which commands the operation, said enemy fire was not the cause of the crash.

Kasaesbeh, who comes from a prominent Jordanian Sunni Muslim family, is the first pilot from the international coalition known to have been captured by Islamic State.

The Sunni Muslim jihadist group has a history of killing enemy soldiers that it captures on the battlefield and beheading Western civilians that it takes hostage. Many of the captives it has killed are Shi'ites or non-Muslims, but the group has also executed Sunnis for fighting alongside its enemies.

His family has pleaded for mercy.
"I do not want to describe him as a hostage. I call him a guest," his father, Saif al-Kasaesbeh, told Reuters Television.
"He is a guest among brothers of ours in Syria Islamic State. I ask them - by the name of God and with the dignity of the prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him - to receive him as a guest of his hosts and treat him well," he said.

- Reuters

Girl: My father gave me to Boko Haram

2014-12-26 08:59 Kano - A 13-year-old girl says her father gave her to Boko Haram extremists and that she was arrested after refusing to explode a suicide bomb at a market in Kano, Nigeria's second largest city in the north.

She says she told her captors she did not want to be a suicide bomber but allowed them to strap her into a vest primed with explosives because they threatened to bury her alive.

She says she was taken to Kano's textile market where two other girls detonated their bombs. Police said four people were killed in the 10 December attack.

Police presented the girl at a news conference on Tuesday night.

Nigeria has suffered numerous bombings carried out by girls and young women.

‘Expert’ UK soccer tips

Cape Town - Each round of the 2014/15 English Premiership season, a panel of Sport24 staff and occasional guest tipsters have a crack at predicting the results - do the exercise yourself, if you like, and see how you compare afterwards.
Compiled by Rob Houwing (Newcastle-partial), the others are Garrin Lambley (Everton), Herman Mostert (Chelsea), Earl Haupt (Liverpool) and a pesky new trio of Manchester United devotees in Tashreeq Vardien, Wade Pretorius and Maano Nekhavhambe.
Three points are awarded for an entirely correct scoreline, and one for right result.
THE PRIME ATTRACTION
TOTTENHAM v CHELSEA
Thursday, January 1, 19:30
Last season, Tottenham were denied a possible, spirited victory by John Terry’s 75th-minute equaliser in an engrossing clash at White Hart Lane. Mind you, Spurs then had one of their notorious off-days in the away meeting, conceding all four goals after the break in a 4-0 victory for the Blues (including two very late Demba Ba strikes). So you can never be sure what to expect from the home side in this one, and I just fancy that Jose Mourinho will find sufficient ways to dismantle them. That’s the most popular pick, although Garrin believes the leaders will be curtailed to a point, and Maano goes rather left-field to tip a particularly Happy New Year for Spurs fans ... 
Rob: Tottenham  0 Chelsea 2 
Garrin: 1-1
Herman: 1-2
Earl: 0-2
Wade: 1-2
Tashreeq: 1-3
Maano: 1-0
Last season: 1-1                          
THE GRUDGE MATCH
WEST HAM v ARSENAL
Sunday, December 28, 17:00
There are a few London derbies over the festive season, and here’s another goodie. The Hammers continue to punch gleefully above their weight – still in fourth as this was penned – and two slots ahead of  the normally more fancied Gunners. Our gurus are confused about which way to go, offering you all outcomes, so I thought I’d shrewdly nip into middle ground and predict a tight 1-1 draw. Fickle Arsenal did win the equivalent fixture 3-1 last season, with Theo Walcott netting twice in a come-from-behind effort.
Rob: West Ham 1 Arsenal 1
Garrin: 1-2
Herman: 1-2
Earl: 1-1
Wade: 2-2
Tashreeq: 1-0
Maano: 1-2
Last season: 1-3                          
THE DESPERATE DUEL
HULL v LEICESTER
Sunday, December 28, 17:00
Easy one to install, this: at the time we did our predictions, hosts Hull lay second from bottom ... with these very opponents the only outfit in more humble real estate. So don’t expect any special post-Christmas goodwill from either protagonist in what may be a grim, feisty battle. It’s also another game where our panel are all over the place; never accuse us of crooning from the same carol sheet! 
Rob: Hull 1 Leicester 1
Garrin: 2-1
Herman: 1-1
Earl: 1-2
Wade: 2-1
Tashreeq: 1-0
Maano: 0-1
Last season: Not applicable                    
THE OTHERS
TOTTENHAM v MANCHESTER UNITED
Sunday, December 28, 14:00
Rob: Tottenham 1 Manchester United 2
Garrin: 1-1
Herman: 1-1
Earl: 1-1
Wade: 2-3
Tashreeq: 1-1
Maano: 1-4
Last season: 2-2                   
SOUTHAMPTON v CHELSEA
Sunday, December 28, 16:05
Rob: Southampton 0 Chelsea 2
Garrin: 1-1
Herman: 1-2
Earl: 1-1
Wade: 1-2
Tashreeq: 1-1
Maano: 1-0
Last season: 0-3            
ASTON VILLA v SUNDERLAND
Sunday, December 28, 17:00
Rob: Aston Villa 1 Sunderland 1
Garrin: 2-1
Herman: 2-1
Earl: 2-1
Wade: 1-1
Tashreeq: 1-2
Maano: 1-1
Last season: 0-0                   
MANCHESTER CITY v BURNLEY
Sunday, December 28, 17:00
Rob: Manchester City 2 Burnley 0
Garrin: 3-0
Herman: 3-0
Earl: 4-1
Wade: 3-0
Tashreeq: 3-0
Maano: 2-0
Last season: Not applicable             
QPR v CRYSTAL PALACE
Sunday, December 28, 17:00
Rob: QPR 1 Crystal Palace 1
Garrin: 2-1
Herman: 1-1
Earl: 1-1
Wade: 2-0
Tashreeq: 2-1
Maano: 1-1
Last season: Not applicable                   
STOKE v WEST BROM
Sunday, December 28, 17:00
Rob: Stoke 1 West Brom 1
Garrin: 2-1
Herman: 1-1
Earl: 1-0
Wade: 2-1
Tashreeq: 2-1
Maano: 1-0
Last season: 0-0 
NEWCASTLE v EVERTON
Sunday, December 28, 18:15
Rob: Newcastle 1 Everton 1
Garrin: 1-1
Herman: 2-1
Earl: 2-1
Wade: 1-1
Tashreeq: 1-1
Maano: 0-1
Last season: 0-3             
LIVERPOOL v SWANSEA
Monday, December 29, 22:00
Rob: Liverpool 2 Swansea 1
Garrin: 2-1
Herman: 2-1
Earl: 2-1
Wade: 2-1
Tashreeq: 1-0
Maano: 1-0
Last season: 4-3                   
STOKE v MANCHESTER UNITED
Thursday, January 1, 14:45
Rob: Stoke 1 Manchester United 1
Garrin: 1-2
Herman: 1-2
Earl: 1-1
Wade: 1-2
Tashreeq: 1-2
Maano: 0-1
Last season: 2-1            
ASTON VILLA v CRYSTAL PALACE
Thursday, January 1, 17:00
Rob: Aston Villa 1 Crystal Palace 0
Garrin: 1-1
Herman: 2-1
Earl: 0-0
Wade: 2-1
Tashreeq: 1-0
Maano: 1-0
Last season: 0-1                   
HULL v EVERTON
Thursday January 1, 17:00
Rob: Hull 0 Everton 0
Garrin: 1-2
Herman: 1-1
Earl: 1-2
Wade: 1-2
Tashreeq: 1-3
Maano: 0-0
Last season: 0-2             
LIVERPOOL v LEICESTER
Thursday, January 1, 17:00
Rob: Liverpool 3 Leicester 0
Garrin: 2-0
Herman: 2-0
Earl: 2-1
Wade: 2-0
Tashreeq: 2-1
Maano: 2-1
Last season: Not applicable                   
MANCHESTER CITY v SUNDERLAND
Thursday, January 1, 17:00
Rob: Manchester City 2 Sunderland 0 
Garrin: 3-0
Herman: 2-0
Earl: 3-0
Wade: 3-0
Tashreeq: 3-1
Maano: 1-0
Last season: 2-2 
NEWCASTLE v BURNLEY
Thursday, January 1, 17:00
Rob: Newcastle 1 Burnley 0
Garrin: 2-1
Herman: 2-1
Earl: 3-0
Wade: 3-1
Tashreeq: 2-1
Maano: 1-0
Last season: Not applicable             
QPR v SWANSEA
Thursday, January 1, 17:00
Rob: QPR 1 Swansea 1
Garrin: 1-1
Herman: 1-1
Earl: 0-1
Wade: 2-1
Tashreeq: 2-3
Maano: 3-1
Last season: Not applicable                   
SOUTHAMPTON v ARSENAL
Thursday, January 1, 17:00
Rob: Southampton 0 Arsenal 2
Garrin: 1-1
Herman: 1-2
Earl: 1-1
Wade: 1-2
Tashreeq: 1-1
Maano: 1-2
Last season: 2-2
WEST HAM v WEST BROM
Thursday, January 1, 17:00
Rob: West Ham 2 West Brom 0
Garrin: 2-1
Herman: 2-1
Earl: 2-0
Wade: 2-0
Tashreeq: 3-1
Maano: 2-1
Last season: 3-3            
*LEADERBOARD (ahead of Boxing Day games, for which our tips were published recently)
140 Wade (13 points in last round)
132 Garrin (8)
131 Herman (8)
116 Rob (7)
110 Tashreeq (7)
109 Earl (7)
96 Maano (6)
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