Ahmadu Ali denies military wing existence in PDP

The crisis in the now opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may still take a very long time to resolve - While the party has been factionalised, two former Army chiefs have opposed each other over claims of a military wing in the party Ahmadu Ali, a former military officer and ex-National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has denied the existence of any military wing in the party. Ahmadu Ali said there was no military wing in the PDP as claimed by the former President Babangida. Ali was reacting to a claim by former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, that the PDP had a military wing, while he spoke at the book presentation of Lt Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi’s “Vindication of a General”, Ali noted that he served the PDP for three years and never saw any military wing as was being claimed. “I am not aware of any military wing in PDP,” he said. The report quoted Babangida as saying recently while receiving the report of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-committee on ‘strategy and inter party Affairs ‘ led by professor Jerry Gana at his residence, Minna Niger state that: “We are the military wing of PDP, we took a lot of interest in the PDP.I thank God we came up with the concept that PDP should rule for 60 years.” 

Struggle for President Buhari’s job a distractions to Nigeria, - El-Rufai

Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai has said that the struggle for the position of President Muhammadu Buhari has created confusion in Nigeria’s political system.According to the Kaduna chief executive, politicians aspiring to be the next leader of Nigeria have kicked off the rat race for the country’s top job way ahead of the timeline. He said this is as a result of President Buhari’s ill health which makes many of them feel that he would not run for a second term. He said: “Because of the feeling that the president may not run for a second term, people are already gearing up. Some politicians want President Buhari's job because of his ill health “All of us are getting distracted by the coterie of ambitious presidential aspirants that are trying to kick-start the political process ahead of the normal timeline.” Although he admitted that President Buhari has not indicated that he would run again in 2019, El-Rufai however said that most ruling party members would like him to seek a second term. He said: “Many of us that campaigned vigorously for him in 2015 are hoping that his health will improve and stabilize and that he will run again in 2019. “We need the policy continuity and the stability in the political environment for the country to make progress.” Transview magazine gathered that this comes just as Chief Chekwas Okorie, the National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), said Buhari should not run again. Okorie was reacting to the statement by Femi Adesina, the presidential spokesperson, who said Buhari would win if he presents himself for another election. Okorie said that Adesina did not read the mood of the nation well before making his comment.

AI engineer builds and marries his robot wife

A 31-year-old AI engineer has married one of his robot creations.

Zheng Jiajia, who used to work for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, held an informal wedding ceremony for himself and his robot wife in Hangzhou, local papers report.

SEE ALSO: Don't believe your eyes: This realistic robot is not human

The robot, named Yingying, is able to speak in simple sentences in response to audio prompts, and visually recognise Chinese characters and images.

Zheng (left) and his robot wife, Yingying.

IMAGE: WEIBO

At Huawei, where Zheng worked for three years, he founded a unit specialising in AI and robotics.

Zheng now runs a startup called Brain of Things (物本脑科技) in Hangzhou's incubator village, Dream Town, where he's given Yingying a job as the company spokesperson. 

Their staff passes.

IMAGE: PEAR VIDEO

Zheng told the local TV station that he has plans to upgrade Yingying to give her the ability to walk and do some household chores.

Their wedding ceremony was attended by his mother and friends. The bride's head was covered in with a red veil, in traditional custom.

It's highly possible that this has been an elaborate publicity stunt to promote his company's AI and neural network technologies. 

Still, Zheng seemed fairly sincere in his interview with Pear Video, saying: "My dream of making my own spouse finally came true. I want to see robots in every home, and ultimately I want to build a realistic robot girlfriend."

Some experts have predicted that marriage between humans and robots will become legal by 2050, driven by public demand.

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