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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?

To the editor: Jacob Heilbrunn's warning of the significant return to power of neoconservatives in influencing the foreign policy advocated by the GOP, and less directly affecting our government's resulting overseas actions, should be taken very seriously. ("The neocons: They're back, and on Iran, they're uncompromising as ever," op-ed, April 2)

Neocons were totally discredited 10 years ago when the failure of their Middle East policies became clear. But memories are often short.

With Congress contemplating plans to undercut a tentative nuclear agreement with Iran, and with frequent calls for our military to intensify airstrikes and consider using ground forces again, the neocons apparently are slow learners. They still believe they have the power to unilaterally remake the Middle East.

Bill Hessell, Oak View

..

To the editor: Characteristically, progressives have high hopes and short memories.

Remember the North Koreans, who after talking 25 years ago about not having nuclear weapons now have these weapons and threaten the world? President Clinton was at first so happy and triumphant after making diplomatic inroads to North Korea. If only he had been more of a neocon.

The Iranians have been "snowing" us for years. Is there any doubt that even with an agreement in place, Iranian leaders will stall, lie and cheat?

Jack Kaczorowski, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionandFacebook

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Neocons and progressives: Which side has the shorter memory?

Deputy Governor of Jigawa, Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud

The Deputy Governor of Jigawa, Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud, has defected to the All Progressives Congress. But the state Peoples Democratic Party stated that he was expelled for alleged anti-party activities.

This was contained in a statement by the PDP chairman of Galagamma ward in Gumel, Jigawa, Alhaji Ibrahim Kafinta, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Dutse.

The chairman said the decision to expel Mahmud was taken during a stakeholders meeting held in his ward.

Reports had earlier indicated that Mahmud had dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress, which won the March 28 election in the state.

Kafinta did not say when the stakeholders meeting, which ratified the expulsion, held.

The ward chairman alleged that the deputy governor sabotaged PDP during the recent National Assembly election.

He added that the Gumel Local Government Area headquarters of the party, had endorsed the expulsion.

Efforts by NAN to get the comments of the deputy governor on the matter failed as he neither picked a call nor replied a text message sent to him.

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Jigawa dep gov defects to APC