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April 8, 2015 : Chux Ohai, Owerri, Godwin Isenyo 17 Comments

MALLAM NASIR EL-RUFAI | credits: File copy

All Progressives Congress Governorship Candidate in Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai on Tuesday raised the alarm that the Peoples Democratic Party in the state has planned to undermine the card readers in order to rig the Saturdays election in the state.

Speaking in an Hausa programme Barka da Waharka on the Freedom Radio monitored in Kaduna, el-Rufai said the party had uncovered plot that the PDP was presently working to undermine the Permanent Voters Card and card reader device so as to ensure massive rigging in the state.

El-Rufai, a former minister of the FCT, also said the ruling party was recruiting and arming thugs to disrupt the election.

According to him, the PDP led government has imported armed thugs to perpetrate the rigging of the election.

He alleged that the party (PDP) has sinister dealings with some unprincipled INEC officials in the state to carry out their sinister motive.

El-Rufai said, We got credible intelligence and we alerted the police, military, DSS and INEC. They (PDP) have been running from pillar to pillar in the name of thwarting the effectiveness of card readers. They adopted using of armed thugs to intimidate voters and carry out ballot box snatching and stuffing of it (boxes) for declaration. They planned to withhold result sheets and other plots.

They met with some security personnel and seal a deal with them. We submitted all the details with evidence(s) to the authorities. So, we are watching closely and will not give them a chance.

Also, the All Progressives Congress in Imo State has raised the alarm over what it described as a plot by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to embark on massive rigging of Saturdays governorship and house of assembly elections in the state.

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PDP planning to rig elections el-Rufai

That's the plea of a petition, launched by the liberal-leaning Progressive Change Campaign Committee and signed by 5,000 current and former elected officials and other political leaders, addressed to the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.

"We urge all candidates for president to campaign on big, bold ideas -- such as establishing a national goal of debt-free college at all public colleges and universities, expanding Social Security benefits instead of cutting them, creating millions of clean-energy jobs, reducing big-money influence in politics, breaking up the 'too big to fail' Wall Street banks that crashed our economy, and ensuring that working families share in the economic growth they help create," the petition reads.

It argues that such ideas have broad support across the political spectrum and are "key to victory" in 2016. In addition to Reid, nearly 200 state legislators and 25 members of Congress have signed the petition. That includes former Iowa Rep. Tom Harkin and a few House members considering or running for Senate, including Florida Rep. Alan Grayson and Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards.

While the petition is addressed broadly to any 2016 contenders, its implicit target is Clinton, who is expected to launch her presidential bid this month. She's long faced skepticism from progressives who view her as too cozy with Wall Street and want to hear more from her on combating income inequality.

A number of little-known Democrats are floating presidential bids, including former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Clinton remains the prohibitive frontrunner in the early Democratic primary, however every survey of the field shows her leading her potential primary opponents by huge double-digit margins.

Though Clinton already has the backing of a number of Democratic senators in her probable bid, Reid's signature on the petition signals he may still be withholding judgment in the race. Reid has previously said that he "loves" the Clintons, Reid was instrumental in recruiting then-Sen. Barack Obama to challenge her in 2008.

And his move to back the PCCC's petition signals that he could again become a thorn in the Democrats' side a second time around.

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Harry Reid, progressives urge 2016 Dem to run on 'bold economic populist' ideas

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria claimed Monday that 55 of its members had been killed in election violence in Rivers state ahead of Saturdays governorship election. The opposition party also accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the southeast state of attacking its members and supporters, according to Nigerian newspaper the Guardian.

PDP and its governorship candidate, Mr. Nyesome Wike, aided by the security agencies, have continued to kill and maim our members and supporters. We have lost 55 members of our party to political violence in Rivers state, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the national publicity secretary of the APC, said during a press conference in Abuja.

Mohammed alleged the attacks targeting APC members and supporters in Rivers state began prior to the presidential election on March 28 but have become progressively worse as the governorship election -- slated for April 11 -- draws near. APC members have been subjected to persistent harassment and intimidation across the state, he said at the press conference, according to Information Nigeria news site. Over 150 prominent members have been victims of this unprovoked persecution.

Rivers state was considered a flash point of violence and crisis in the run-up to the presidential election. The southeast state was the only state in Nigeria to massively protest for the cancellation of the national election results, according to Sahara Reporters. Rivers state Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of the APC claimed electoral preparations were compromised and that the PDP interfered with the poll results, News24 Nigeria reported last month.

Rivers state has been a PDP stronghold in the oil-rich south. President Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian, won 1.48 million votes, or 94.9 percent of the total votes, cast in the state during the presidential poll, according to Agence France-Presse. But the massive win was not enough to claim overall victory in the presidential election. Jonathan lost re-election by a couple of million votes to the APCs candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim.

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Nigeria Elections 2015: 55 All Progressives Congress Members Allegedly Killed In Rivers State Political Violence

National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun

The All Progressives Congress will firmly be in control of the 8th House of Representatives as the majority party with over 214 members.

There are a total of 360 seats in the second chamber of the National Assembly.

Figures emerging from the outcome of the March 28 National Assembly poll, show that APC members are now 214, against the Peoples Democratic Party, which has 125 lawmakers.

The statistics gives a gap of 89 between the APC and the PDP in favour of the former.

The figures, which The PUNCH obtained on Tuesday, exclude the 11 federal constituency seats in Jigawa State, where election has yet to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

When elections for the 11 seats are conducted, the APC will possibly get additional seats, meaning that its numerical strength in the House may be well above 214 at inauguration on June 6.

Three other political parties, Labour Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance and Accord Party, share the balance of 10 seats, bringing the total to 360.

The distribution of the figures shows that the APC has the highest membership haul from the North-West with 81 lawmakers, as against the PDPs zero score for now.

It is followed by the South-West, where it won 47 seats compared to the PDPs 20.

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APC wins 214 House of Reps seats

Progressives forced the Chicago mayor into a runoff, but he's poised for reelection Tuesday.

After years of his tiresome shtickthe bullying, the profanity, the glorified tough-guy act, and most of all the centrist corporatismRahm Emanuel was getting his due, and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party was elated. It was late February, and the Chicago mayor had just been forced into a runoff to hold on to his seat, despite spending nearly $16 million and bringing in President Obama for a last-minute appearance in a bid to head off challengers.

"Rahm Emanuel and his corporate cronies have awoken a massive grassroots army across the city committed to ending his agenda of privatization, public school closings, and pension cuts," exulted Jim Dean, brother of Howard and head of the liberal group Democracy for America.

With the final ballot coming on Tuesday, that excitement has mellowed into glum resignation as Emanuel looks like a lock to win a second term. Poll after poll shows him with a sizable lead over Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, a Cook County commissioner.

Rahm Emanuel's Moment of F*&$ing Truth

Progressive Democrats have notched several impressive wins in recent years. Bill de Blasio won a surprising victory to become New York mayor. Elizabeth Warren has proven an effective advocate for progressive causes in the Senate. But there are signs of limitations, too. Zephyr Teachout couldn't reproduce de Blasio's magic in a race against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a centrist who particularly annoys progressives, and progressives haven't been able to recruit a potent alternativewhether Warren or someone elseto Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential race.

Garcia seems to embody both the triumphs and the limitations of contemporary progressivism. His strong showing in the first round of voting was a huge win, but the fact that he hasn't been very competitive since seems to suggest either an immaturity of tactics or a glass ceiling for progressive Democrats. They made an impressive early showing, but when it comes to the vote that matters, Garcia and his allies don't have what it takes to get across the finish line.

* * *

Rahm Emanuel is, perhaps, a surprising target for the left. After all, Emanuel has devoted much of his career to screwing Republicans, though the famously profane pol would likely use a different gerund. As chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he helped engineer his party's takeover of the House in 2006, and then served as Barack Obama's first White House chief of staff. In both roles, he irked progressives. As DCCC chair, he recruited a host of business-friendly centrist candidates, which he saw as the best way to take seats away from Republicans, but which progressives saw as the route to a squishy caucus (both arguments saw some vindication). In the White House, he was an outspoken opponent of pursuing healthcare reform, but was central in negotiations bringing the pharmaceutical industry on board.

Emanuel's tenure as mayor of Chicago has confirmed all of the left's suspicions about him. He has been far too concerned, they say, about winning the approval of wealthy donors and pursuing initiatives that appealed to well-heeled Chicagoans and downtown businessmen. He has imposed painful budget cuts (though it's likely that any mayor would have had to trim spending). As part of an aggressive school-reform program, he closed almost 50 schools, and fought the Chicago Teachers Union during a weeklong strike. Meanwhile, the city saw a huge spike in violence. The mayor cozied up to newly elected Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, and Rahm's largest single donor was a billionaire Republican financier.

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Why Can't the Left Unseat Rahm Emanuel?