Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday said he was not losing sleep
over recent attacks on him by presidential aides and a former Federal
Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, because of the
letter he wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Alhaji Abdullahi Aminchi, former Deputy Governor to Umaru Yar’Adua of the state, had defected to APC.
It has come to my notice, that there are posters and fliers being circulated in Ikorodu and other parts of Lagos State announcing me as a Governorship aspirant.
This is not true and I hereby confirm that I have no such intentions. Therefore, I disassociate myself from any persons or group of persons, posters or fliers in circulation about me contesting for governorship. Continue...
I have been paying attention to my calling from God to look after widows and orphans through The Rose of Sharon Foundation and I am also in service most importantly to God’s work as a Minister of his Word through His Ministry committed to us as the Rose of Sharon Glorious Ministry
International. God has not called me into politics and I have never been involved in politics.
Please ignore whatever you may have read purportedly portraying me as a governorship aspirant.
Folorunsho Alakija (Mrs)
The UN staff union said that at least 58 of its
personnel were killed by terrorists and insurgents
in 2013.
It said that working for the world body became
more dangerous in the year.
According to the figures released on Wednesday by
the Staff Union’s Standing Committee for the
Security and Independence of the International Civil
Service, the highest number of casualties occurred
in attacks targeting the UN in South Sudan, Somalia
and Darfur region of Sudan
The figure showed that 33 peacekeepers and 25
civilians and associated personnel were killed in
2013 while working for the organisation.
The union added that the number represents an
increase in the death-toll from attacks on UN staff
members compared with the previous year, when
37 UN personnel were killed.
“Among the horrific assaults was the killing of 12
people associated with the UN Mission in South
Sudan during an ambush on April 9, 2013,” it said.
The Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New
York, also said that about 30 peacekeepers were
escorting a civilian convoy when they were
ambushed by some 200 armed, unidentified men
near the settlement of Gumuruk.
“The shootout that followed led to the killing of five
Indian peacekeepers, two national staff and five
contractors.
“Overall in 2013, 16 peacekeepers were killed in
Darfur, seven in South Sudan, four in Mali and four
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the union
said.
It added that five civilian staff members, four of
them working for the UN Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees, were killed in Syria.
The union’s overview came just months after UN
scribe, Ban Ki-moon, appealed to Member States
and host governments to support all measures of
safety and security measures to improve the
operational environment for UN personnel.
“UN personnel serve in an increasingly dangerous
environment and encounters a variety of threats not
previously encountered in the history of the
organisation,” Ban told members of the General
Assembly.
He cited a UN report released in 2013 on “Safety
and Security of Humanitarian Personnel and
Protection of UN officials” which showed that
significant security incidents affecting UN staff in
2012 increased to 1,793 compared with 1,759 in
2011.
China has fined popular film director Zhang Yimou
more than $1m for violating the country’s one-child
policy.
The director, who said he has three children, has 30
days to pay 7.5m yuan ($1.2m, £729,000), state
media say.
Mr Zhang, known for directing the Beijing Olympics
opening ceremony in 2008, in December apologised
for violating the strict policy.
China introduced the policy in the 1970s to curb
population growth.
The policy until recently limited most urban couples
to a single child. Rural families were allowed to have
two children if their first-born was a girl.
But last year, China said it would relax the policy –
families will be allowed two children if one parent is
an only child.
The family planning bureau in Binhu district, Wuxi
city, Jiangsu province, sent Mr Zhang a letter
collecting the “social maintenance fee”, Xinhua
news agency says, citing the district’s official
microblog account.
The fine was calculated based on the income of Mr
Zhang and his wife, Chen Ting, when their two sons
and daughter were born, the Binhu government
said.
The couple made $580,000 in 2000, 2003 and 2005,
the Binhu government added.
The wife of Mr Zhang – who denied reports he
fathered more children with other women – is from
Wuxi city.
Mr Zhang, 61, directed some of China’s most
successful films, including Hero, the House of Flying
Daggers and the Flowers of War.
A 30-year-old man was on Wednesday beaten to a
pulp by residents of Temidire Estate at the Okejetu
area of Osogbo, Osun State, for allegedly attempting
to kidnap a two-year-old girl from her mother’s
shop.
Our correspondent gathered that the suspected
kidnapper who declined to give his identity had gone
to Mrs. Folake Oni’s shop to buy a bottle of soft
drink.
It was not clear if the suspect was sane, but he
behaved like somebody whose mental sanity was
questionable.
He had bruises on some parts of his body and
appeared very weak but he struggled to cover his
genitals with a piece of cloth.
The suspect was said to have gone to the shop, had
the first drink and requested another bottle. But as
the woman went inside to bring the drink, the
suspect was said to have grabbed the girl whose
name is Marvelous.
The mother, on coming back, discovered that the
customer and her baby had disappeared and she
raised the alarm.
An eyewitness, who declined to reveal his identity,
said that the woman on sighting the kidnapper ran
after him and continued shouting for help.
Passersby later joined her in hot pursuit of the
suspect, but the man reportedly dropped the baby
and managed to hide inside a pit.
It was gathered that one of the residents saw him
and also jumped inside the pit dragged him out and
stripped him naked before others joined in beating
him up.
The mother of the kidnapped baby, who spoke with
our correspondent, said the suspect came to her
shop, pretending to be a customer and used the
opportunity to steal her baby and started running.
She said, “He came in and asked for a bottle of soft
drink and I gave him. He requested another bottle
and I went inside to bring it, but on coming back I
discovered that he had grabbed Marvelous and was
running away.
“I shouted for help and my neighbours rushed out,
ran after him and brought him out from where he
was hiding. I thank God that he did not succeed in
kidnapping my baby.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Folasade
Odoro, said she had heard about the case, but was
waiting to be properly briefed on it.
The Nigerian Army on Wednesday in Calabar said it
destroyed 36 petroleum tankers and six “Cotonou”
boats allegedly used for illegal bunkering in Cross
River.
The outgoing Commander of 13 Brigade, Nigerian
Army, Brig.-Gen. Okwudili Azinta, announced this
while presenting a scorecard of his command
activities in 2013.
Azinta said that the tankers and boats were
destroyed at different locations in the state by
members of the Joint Task Force.
According to him, oil theft in Cross River has
reduced while most creeks that are being used to
refine stolen petroleum products have also been
destroyed.
“With the combined efforts of the JTF in Cross
River, sea robbery and piracy have also been
reduced in the waterways of Cross River and Akwa
Ibom.
“Also, there is no militant camp in Cross River; the
Efut Esighi militant and shrine camps in Akpabuyo
Local Government Area of Cross River have been
destroyed by the Nigerian Army.
“All these were made possible by the zero
tolerance to illegal oil bunkering in the state,’’ he
said.
He said that the command under his leadership had
trained 40 officers on intelligence information
gathering.
“The army needs appropriate and timely information
to strengthen its operational network.
“The Army also needs expertise to collate, gather
and make information analysis which can be used
to arrest crisis before it escalates.
“The idea of the training was nursed from the fact
that the military needed such training on warfare in
the present 21st century, ’’ he said.
The commander also said that the brigade, under
his command, hosted and won the 82 Division Inter-
Brigade Proficiency Combat Competition.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the
command is executing some projects in the
barracks which include the renovation of the old
residence of the former Governor-General of
Southern Nigeria.
Others are single officers’ accommodation, 13
Brigade Urban Communication masts, and a block of
30 flats for soldiers and others.
Azinta has been transferred to 4 Brigade Nigerian
Army, Benin, as the new commander.
Azinta advised officers and men of the command to
key into his leadership style in building the Nigerian
Army worthy of emulation.
The UN has warned that the Central African
Republic is heading toward a humanitarian disaster,
as people fleeing conflict pack into overcrowded
camps with poor sanitation.
It says measles has broken out at the airport in the
capital, Bangui, where about 100,000 people are
seeking refuge from clashes between rival militias.
Separately, reports that the president is to step
down have been denied.
Officials say that Michel Djotodia’s resignation is
not on the agenda.
President Djotodia’s spokesman told the BBC that
the president was on his way to neighbouring Chad
to “attend a regional summit, but not to resign”.
But the president’s failure to quell violence between
Christian and Muslim militias has prompted
speculation that he may indeed step down at the
summit.
“It’s finished for him now,” a source close to Mr
Djotodia was quoted as telling Reuters.
A senior diplomatic source in Paris and political
sources in Bangui told Reuters that regional leaders
led by Chad had run out of patience with President
Djotodia, who seized power in March as the head of
Muslim Seleka rebels.
Telecommunications service providers will know
their fate later this month as far as punishment for
rendering poor quality services is concerned.
Our correspondent learnt from a top source in the
Ministry of Communications Technology that the
industry regulator, Nigerian Communications
Commission, was currently collating statistics on
Key Performance Indicators of the firms, after
which compilation of results would be effected.
The NCC, the source told our correspondent in
confidence, would announce appropriate sanctions
against the errant operators after work would have
been completed on the KPI assessment later this
month.
Explaining the reason why the regulator did not
unleash the sanctions at the beginning of the year
as earlier promised, the source said, “The purpose
for the KPI assessment is to punish errant
operators and if one is going to penalise anybody;
then, there should be no reason to want to rush the
process. It must be carefully done.
“With this approach, the guilty operators will be
punished for the offences they actually committed.
But we can give an assurance to Nigerians that
before the end of January, necessary actions will
be taken against the errant operators.”
Telecoms subscribers had called on the Ministry of
Communications Technology, Consumer Protection
Council and the Nigerian Communications
Commission to punish telecoms operators for
rendering poor quality services in line with their
decision last month.
Budgets ensure that you can afford your bills and
have enough money to live on, but no budget works
if you break it. Many people go over their personal
budgets from time to time, but routinely breaking the
budget can lead to debt, late payments, collection
calls or evictions.
Many people often find themselves in this position
in the middle of the month or as pay day
approaches. Yet, many of them fail to achieve their
goal. Before the month is half-spent, they have
abandoned their budgets.
Experts say this is largely as a result of poor
planning and mistakes made in drawing up a budget
and trying to implement it.
Some of the common mistakes you should note
when making a budget are:
Having unrealistic expectations
In drawing up a budget, it is important to know the
amount of money you are expecting or that will be
available to you. However, some people end up
listing their needs (and wants) and then thinking
about how they will get the money to meet them. By
doing so, they tend to overestimate their
expectations. While it is okay to be optimistic about
income or earnings, when it comes to budgeting, it
is important to be precise. This is because once
you draw up a budget based on expected earnings
of N100,000, for instance, and you end up with
N70,000, that budget is doomed.
Failure to document expenses
Many people do not keep track of their expenses.
They believe they can easily recall all the
expenditures they have made at the end of the day
or when they have the time. It is at the end of the
month that they realise their brain is not as powerful
as they thought. Surely, trying to recall every single
thing you spent money on in a month is impossible.
The best way to keep track of your expenses is to
document them as they happen. Make a habit of
keeping receipts, taking notes. When you go
shopping and you discover that the prices of some
of the things you bought are higher than they are in
your budget, it is important that you note those
changes.
According to experts, it is hard if not impossible to
properly implement your budget if you do not know
where your money is going. If you are too busy in
the day to note your expenses, they advise that you
find time to do so every night, updating your budget
to ensure that it reflects the actual expenses you
made.
Underestimating prices
Another mistake people make is that they make
their budgets based on assumptions as against
drawing up one based on current prices of items.
Because prices of items can fluctuate at short
intervals, it is not wise for you to make a budget
based on last month’s prices. This is more so when
it comes to food prices, especially seasonal food
items such as fruits, tomatoes and yams.
To avoid this mistake, experts advise that you try to
make it a habit to do market surveys or go window-
shopping. While you may consider this as time-
wasting, the truth is that in the long run, it can
prevent you from underestimating prices and save
your budget. If you make a budget and later
discover when you go shopping that you have
underestimated the prices, you may end up having
no money for important purchases or payments
later.
Being too prudent
According to experts, when you are too frugal with
your budget, you are likely to become frustrated
with it and abandon it all together. This is because it
is like a source of deprivation; an item that makes
you overly cautious and miserly. Of course, the idea
of a budget is to help you to keep expenses in
check and boost your savings, however, you must
take care that it does not choke you. To do that, you
have to keep a budget reasonable and give yourself
room for a ‘treat’ whenever applicable.
Planning for the short-term
Budgets are tools of financial planning. They are
meant to guide you in the execution of a financial
plan, which may span years and even decades. This
is why it is important that in drawing up your
budget, you keep the goal in focus. Planning with
just a month in focus may make you lose sight of
your goal. Remember, it is just not about surviving
financially for one month, it is about taking steps –
with each budget, that guides you to your ultimate
financial goal. If you have a rather large expenditure
to make at some point in the course of the year, it
is important that each of your budgets takes that
into consideration.
Not saving much
If your budget is not boosting your savings, it is a
sign that you are not getting it right. According to
experts, just as you budget for your transport to
work, so you should make a provision for savings
in your budgets. They stress that it is wrong to
assume that you wouldn’t save whatever is left of
your income after you have taken care of your
needs. But many people do not take note of this;
there is no provision for savings in their budgets.
Your budget is expected to include an amount
marked as savings. It could be anything from 10 per
cent of your income upwards. If you have difficulty
keeping to such a plan, you can overcome the
challenge by making arrangements for your bank to
deduct the money directly from your salary.
Spending more than you earn
This is perhaps the most common mistake people
make when it comes to budgeting. Their budget is
more than their earnings. Experts say this has to be
avoided or else financial freedom will be impossible.
The say the right thing to do is to ensure that your
budget is lesser than your income.
Ignoring ‘minor’ details
Many people leave many details out of their budgets
in the belief that they are too small. But these little
details or expenses that are left out can make you
fail in your attempt to implement the budget. This is
because when added up, they amount to much.
Some people even list the cost of recharging their
phones in this category, but many people will admit
that their phone bills run into thousands at the end
of the month – regardless of the fact that they
recharge their phones with ‘just’ N200 every now
and then. Oh, and that grilled meat that you buy
regularly, which is also not in your budget can cost
you thousands at the end of the month too. The fact
is that no expense is too small to be covered in
your budget.
Not planning for emergencies
This is considered one of the biggest mistakes
people make when it comes to budgeting. They
have no plan for unforeseen circumstances. They
only consider their needs. So, when they fall ill or
get involved in an accident or need to make a
sudden repair on their car, they become desperate,
sometimes, they are forced to borrow money.
With every passing defeat David Moyes’ posture
bows further under increased pressure.
But if, as expected, the Scot opens his hefty
warchest to bring in the players that will turn his
season around, which players must he cull to put
his own stamp on the squad?
United are currently the 13/8 fifth favourites to
finish in the top four this season.
Robin van Persie
Sir Alex Ferguson’s often lauded nous in judging a
transfer looks to have deserted him in signing the
Dutchman.
Yes, Van Persie fired United to the title last season,
but he’s been seen in a red shirt just twice in the
last 14 games and there’s talk that the number 20
hasn’t taken to Moyes’ regime.
Both senior centre-backs
Similarly, Rio Ferdinand has played twice in the past
12 United outings. That suggests the 81-cap
veteran isn’t trusted by Moyes and a knee injury
picked up against Swansea could be an early memo
from the body, telling him his time is up.
Nemanja Vidic has been linked with a move away
from Manchester for a while and can still attract
decent money. The Red Devils have lost six of the
19 games he’s started this term, and just two of the
13 he’s missed. He won’t be a loss on current form.
Rafael
Hopes were high when Rafael and twin brother
Fabio signed for United, but neither have been able
to provide the kind of consistent level of
performance that Patrice Evra has long been
associated with on the opposite side of the pitch.
Fabio is already playing elsewhere, his brother
should follow.
Tom Cleverley
Only three men have made more 2013/14 Premier
League starts than the English midfielder, yet the
former Watford loanee still leaves many scratching
their heads as to his actual value to the team.
Shipping him out for a player who’ll greater
compliment Michael Carrick is essential.
Javier Hernandez
Moyes doesn’t use a nippy striker. He tried it at
Everton with Jermaine Beckford and it didn’t work.
Hernandez will demand big money in January that
Moyes can use to find a better fit for his style.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of
publishing.
Mary Konye, the 21 year old jealous friend being
accused of attacking Naomi Oni with acid in Dec.
2012 made some shocking allegations of her own in
court today. She told the courts through her lawyers
that Naomi set up the attack and asked her (Mary
Konye) to 'play the stalker' and throw the acid on
her face, which was all part of an elaborate plan to
be rich and famous.
This makes no sense to me. Why would you want to
do that to yourself to be rich and famous? How
many rich and famous people have their faces
disfigured by acid? The things you hear.
Today Miss Oni insisted she was not 'obsessed'
with plastic surgery or the story of fellow acid
attack victim Katy Piper, despite an internet
search history on her laptop suggesting
otherwise.
In cross examination Sally O'Neill asked her to
explain to jurors the story of Ms Piper before
asking whether she had become obsessed by the
disfigured model.
Miss Oni said: 'I wouldn't say obsessed but it
deeply moved me. I read about other attacks but
it was not an obsession.'
Ms O'Neill said it was the defence case that she
hatched a plan with Konye to pour acid over
herself to improve her future prospects.
She said: 'You said if something similar to that of
Katy Piper happened to you then that wouldn't be
the end of the world because Katy Piper probably
had a career boost.'
Miss Oni simply replied: 'No.'
The defence barrister asked her why she had
visited a series of plastic surgery websites.
Miss Oni answered: 'I do not think I was very
pretty at all.
'I went on the sites for no reason in particular - I
had body issues and I was interested in plastic
surgery for my body but there was no particular
reason.
'I remember searching for my eyelids because I
had double eyelids which I didn't like so I planned
one day to see if I could do something about it.'
But Ms O'Neill said: 'You formalised a plan in
which you would become the victim of a random
acid attack in the hope that you would receive the
same type of fame and fortune as Katy Piper
had.'You were of the view that Katy Piper still
looked lovely after the attack but that you would
need something else to support the attack
because the police wouldn't believe you and that
was where you brought Mary Konye into it.
'Your play was, I suggest, that you would make
an allegation that you had been followed and
attacked and you wanted Mary Konye to be part
of that - you wanted her to follow you and also,
initially, wanted her to throw the acid.
'She absolutely refused to do that and you said
that you were actually going to throw the acid
yourself towards your neck area.'
Miss Oni replied: 'That is very untrue.'
Mary Konye, 21, admits disguising herself in a
niqab and stalking Naomi Oni, also 21, on her way
home from work, but denies she doused her in
sulphuric acid. Miss Oni yesterday described the
moment she was attacked and told Snaresbrook
Crown Court after she saw the damage done she
thought: ‘I’m ugly, no one’s going to marry me
now.'
Jurors were also shown CCTV of student Konye
disguised in a Muslim veil as she followed her
friend on the Tube, before she was attacked late
at night on an east London street.
Yesterday, she described how, on her way home
from work at a Victoria’s Secret lingerie store,
she got off at her bus stop in Dagenham, East
London, and felt a ‘presence’ before turning to
see someone in a niqab.
She then felt a ‘massive splash’ as the acid was
thrown at her, scarring her for life and disfiguring
her face, dissolving her hair and eyelashes and
burning her tongue as she screamed.
Describing how she felt after the attack, she said:
‘Am I a bad person? Why has this happened to
me? I work hard ... No one’s going to marry me
now.’
Miss Oni also revealed that when she told her
alleged attacker what had happened, her friend
texted back: ‘OMG. Can’t believe it.’
She also cried down the phone to Konye, who
offered her support, Snaresbrook Crown Court
heard.
She said: ‘I just had my bandages removed and it
was the first time I saw my face after surgery
and I broke down and I had spoken to Mary that
night and I was crying on the phone to her and
she was on the phone to me telling me, “don’t
worry, you’ll be OK”.’
Giving evidence yesterday, Miss Oni described
how she felt a ‘presence’ behind her as she
walked home.
She said: ‘I was still on the phone to my boyfriend
and I felt a presence. I turned to my left and I
saw someone and a black abaya [cloak] or a
black niqab.
‘I remember it facing me, staring. A presence
directly looking at me. All I could see was eyes.’
She then said she felt the splash as the acid was
thrown in her face and ran home shouting ‘acid,
acid’.
The court heard that the pair had a ‘rocky
relationship’ and had stopped speaking from April
to September 2011 after a row over Konye
sending text messages to Miss Oni’s boyfriend.
Miss Oni said: ‘I remember asking her why she
wanted to do that and I said she’s a monster or
something like that.
'I said you are a monster, you are an ugly
monster. I remember us insulting each other’s
looks.
'She also told me she was so angry she wanted
to throw acid at me, but she was advised not to
by her friend.
'Her friend said, “That’s stupid, you could go to
jail for that”.’
Asked what she thought at the time about the
threat, Miss Oni said: ‘I thought it was quite
bizarre, I felt insulted again. But she seemed like
she wasn’t serious. I thought she was trying to
frighten me a little bit.’
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the
opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, were
yesterday, locked in a war of words over use of
religion to achieve political goals.
While the PDP, which first threw the gauntlet that
the APC was shaped in Islamic fundamentalist robe
insisted on its claim yesterday and challenged the
opposition party to name its 35 interim officers.
The APC on its part said the use of religion by the
PDP was a new low for a party it claimed stands for
incompetence, looting and election rigging.
Reiterating its earlier accusation that the APC was a
party adorned in religious attire. The PDP in a
statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary,
Chief Olisa Metuh, thus dared the leading opposition
party to name its interim officials for the world to
know.
Metuh said “it is shocking that the APC would
attempt to hoodwink Nigerians even in the face of
incontrovertible facts exposing its religious
inclinations and plots to divide the nation along
religious lines.”
The PDP said contrary to the denials posted by the
APC in a hollow statement yesterday, “the
revelations by an Islamic cleric, Ambassador Yusuf
Garba and the Religious Equity Promotion Council,
REPC, that APC seeks to impose an agenda like the
Egypt Muslim Brotherhood remains a fact that
cannot be brushed aside.”
Counter to clams by the APC that the PDP was
playing a religious card to overheat the polity, the
ruling party said it decided to “buttress an alert to
Nigerians on the evil machination of the APC with
every sense of duty to ensure that Nigeria remains
united as one and not fall to the evil plot of the
APC.”
The ruling party reiterated that it “remains
committed to the interest of all Nigerians
irrespective of religious, tribal, ethnic or regional
affiliations” adding that it will continue to expose
and resist anything that seeks to cause divisions
among the people and balkanize the country.
“It therefore called on Nigerians not to succumb to
the antics of the APC which is now bitter that its
plans have been exposed, but to be alert and
ensure that the enemies of the nation are not
allowed to have their way.”
The APC in a sharp riposte articulated by its Interim
National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed
said: “this irresponsible accusation by the PDP that
the APC is dividing Nigerians along religious line is a
new low even for a party that stands for nothing but
incompetence, looting and election rigging. It is an
indication that the desperadoes in the PDP will
throw everything, including the kitchen sink, into
their campaign to stop the wave of change blowing
across Nigeria.’’
According to the party, the reason it has refrained
from joining issues with the PDP, despite its
sponsored campaign to portray the APC as an
‘Islamic party’, is because it knows the dangers
that religious politics portends for any nation that
brings religion into politics, and that no nation which
has descended into religious warfare has survived
intact.
The APC said no party wishing to lead Nigeria aright
can do so on the basis of religion or ethnicity.
Therefore, we are compelled to warn the PDP not to
play what it believes to be its trump card, the
religious card, against the APC, because whatever
politicians do, they must refrain from ethnic or
religious politics and put the country above selfish
considerations. Only an irresponsible party will play
the religious card for any reason.
“It alleged that even when President Goodluck
Jonathan decided to wear religion on his sleeve,
kneeling down before respectable religious leaders
and pushing the pictures into the media in an
apparent ploy to score political gains, the APC
refrained from making any comments on it.”
The party further alleged that when President
Jonathan also decided to lead a bloated delegation
of his cabinet to an extended pilgrimage in Israel
and ferret to the media back home the pictures of
the delegation members at the Wailing Wall and
other religious landmarks, the APC did not make an
issue of the glaring exhibitionism.
“The basis of our circumspection is that in the first
instance, we believe that all Nigerians are
constitutionally guaranteed their right to any faith of
their own, and that playing their religious card
should be avoided at all cost in the larger national
interest,’’ APC stated.
The party said it is neither logical nor rational to
accuse a party whose 35 interim officials are
almost equally split between the adherents of the
two major religions (18 Muslims and 17 Christians)
and cuts across all ethnic lines; a party whose
elected officials – Governors, Senators, House of
Representatives members etc – profess various
faith and a party that has never expressed any
preference for one religion over another as an
Islamic party.
“We are therefore warning the PDP to stop this
dangerous campaign forthwith, unless of course it
has decided that its interest supersedes that of the
nation. If the PDP fails to stop this campaign, we will
be compelled to conclude that the party (PDP) is
trying to plug in to the global stereotype against
adherents of a certain religion just to spread fear
and garner support in certain circles,” it said.
APC appealed to Nigerians to ignore the dangerous
game that the PDP is playing by labelling the APC an
“Islamic” party as a scaremongering tactic that the
comatose ruling party hopes will revive it.
