Archive for the ‘Progressives’ Category
Well keep catching PDP moles, says Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Lai Mohammed | credits: File copy
The National Publicity Secretary of the All progressives Congress, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says the party is aware that there are many spies of the Peoples Democratic Party within the APC. He, however, maintained that they would keep fishing out spies of the PDP from the party.
Mohammed, said this during an interview with our correspondent.
He said this while responding to questions on why the APC waited for a former Governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, to join the PDP before accusing him of being a Boko Haram sponsor.
A former Governor of Lagos State and national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, also alleged three weeks ago that a leader of the party, Chief Tom Ikimi, was also a mole of the PDP.
The APC spokesperson said because the APC was a combination of three national parties, it was easy for the PDP to plant moles in the APC.
He said the issue was also more complex because in a democratic setting, it was improper for a political party not to allow an individual to join its camp.
He said, Sheriff was always the PDPs mole and we even suspected him of being a Boko Haram sponsor when he was in our party. You see the APC is a combination of the Action Congress of Nigeria, the Congress for Progressive Change and the All Nigerian Peoples Party. Sheriff was from the ANPP.
It is difficult spotting moles of the PDP in our party but every now and then, their actions give them away and we begin to watch them. And we will keep fishing them out.
When asked what the difference between the APC and the PDP was since almost the same politicians made up the two parties, Mohammed said the ideology of the APC was what made the difference.
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Well keep catching PDP moles, says Lai Mohammed
Op-ed: Why LGBT and the GOP Are Better Together
Even committed progressives should understand why the Republican Party needs LGBT voters and why LGBT voters need the Republican Party.
As a gay man living in Los Angeles for two years now, Ive been asked more than a few times how I could be both gay and Republican. It can be such a contentious issue that I feel compelled to bring it right out in the open on a first date. The whole process is like coming out for a second time, with the latter being almost as harrowing.
When I mention I serve on the board of the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that advocates for pro-LGBT Republicans, the bewilderment grows: You mean there are more of you out there?
Its not lost on me why there is so much animosity in our community toward the GOP. But even if you are a committed Democrat, you should support the work being done by gay Republicans and other allies within the party.
More will be done for our community in terms of equality and representation if both parties believe our vote is up for grabs. If youve watched cable news at all lately, its clear the GOP is a party in transition. Candidates and many in the leadership want to engage the LGBT community, seeing that freedom for all is truly consistent with their conservative ethos. I still consider myself a Republican despite the disagreements I have with certain politicians and policies largely because I, as a gay American, agree with the partys call for a limited-government approach that expands freedom by staying out of our pocketbooks and our bedrooms. If more members of our community become open to that dialogue, we have an opportunity to help change the party on issues where evolution is necessary.
It was Prime Minister David Cameron, after all, who ushered in marriage equality in Britain based on those conservative principles. As he puts it, Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us. Society is stronger when we make vows to each other and we support each other. I dont support gay marriage in spite of being a conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a conservative.
Those sentiments have started making their way across the pond as well. Earlier this year, Ohio Republican senator and likely 2016 presidential candidate Rob Portman had this to say: I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn't deny them the opportunity to get married. Hes not alone. Many prominent Republicans are coming out in support of marriage equality. Judges appointed by Republican presidents are overturning referendums that ban same-sex marriage, as was the case with Proposition 8 in California. And San Diego is likely to elect the first openly gay Republican to Congress this November. The ads for that candidate, Carl DeMaio, prominently feature him and his partner, Johnathan Hale. California Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari is vocally supportive of marriage equality and even marched in San Diegos Pride Parade this year. The list goes on. And even better yet, these are the candidates winning primary elections among Republican voters.
We all know that the final leg in the cause for equality for LGBT Americans is convincing some religious conservatives of the virtues of inclusion. If there is any hope that this can ever be accomplished, it will be through enlisting the support of those who can speak the language of faith, family, and freedom while communicating why its consistent to make those values accessible to everyone. Republicans can successfully make the case to those individuals and churches that in a secular society they should fight for everyones right to be married, while also protecting the right of religious institutions to determine who can be married in their faith.
Many in the LGBT community agree with the GOP on most issues but not on LGBT equality. As a result, they feel compelled to vote Democratic. I have many friends who would be proud Republicans if it werent for this issue. If the party and more of its candidates are finally able to be truly inclusive, supporting LGBT equality in all forms, these people can finally vote Republican without feeling like they are somehow betraying the LGBT community.
The LGBT community should truly have a choice. My hope is that regardless of your political identification, we can all agree that our community is better served when both political parties are working to serve us.
Jonathanll lose in Ondo APC
President Goodluck Jonathan | credits: File photo
The Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress says the people of the state will vote against President Goodluck Jonathan in the coming presidential election.
The party said in a statement that the imposition of Jonathan on Nigerians by the Peoples Democratic Party confirmed that the party was the problem of Nigerias democracy.
The statement which was issued by its Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya, said: In view of the precarious and unhealthy state of the nation, the good people of Ondo State are eagerly waiting to vote out President Jonathan.
The APC also rejected the recent endorsement of the President by a group known as the Jonathan Actualisation Movement, noting that the group did not have the strength to deliver the state to the PDP.
It warned Jonathan to be wary of political sycophants and attention-seeking groups like JAM, stating that the group lacked the power to save him from imminent electoral failure.
The recent wish expressed by the south-west coordinator of the attention-seeking Jonathan Actualisation Movement, Mr. Victor Olabimtan, that majority of votes for President Jonathan, from the South-West zone will come from Ondo State is sycophantic and unrealistic, the statement said.
The party further argued that the state had yet to benefit from the Jonathan-led government in spite of his promises of industrialisation and stable power supply.
It said, In the same vein, Ondo APC believes the imposition of President Jonathan as the sole candidate of the PDP for 2015 presidential election is not only a mockery of democracy but also the glorification of failure.
Nigeria is bleeding. Our country needs us more than ever. All Nigerians across political folds, ethnic bias and religious affiliations must unite to vote out this bad government.
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Jonathanll lose in Ondo APC
PDP cant win Rivers, APC replies Jonathan
Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi
THE All Progressives Congress has described as ridiculous President Goodluck Jonathans statement that the Peoples Democratic Party will recover Rivers and Edo States from the hands of the APC in the 2015 and 2016 governorship elections.
The Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the APC, Dr. Davies Ikanya, explained that the Presidents optimism was not in line with the realities on the ground in Rivers.
President Jonathan had during a rally organised by the South-South PDP in Edo State on Saturday boasted that his party would take over power after the governorship elections in the two states.
But Ikanya said in a statement on Sunday by his Senior Special Adviser on Media, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, that the Presidents optimism was based on ignorance about the political realities in the state.
The All Progressives Congress, Rivers State chapter, has dismissed as ridiculous the boast by President Goodluck Jonathan that his Peoples Democratic Party will recover the state from the hands of the APC during the 2015 general elections.
This boast made on Saturday by President Jonathan during the PDPs South-South rally in Benin City, the Edo State capital, is ridiculous because it runs counter to the realities on ground in Rivers State.
President Jonathans boast is obviously based on ignorance about current political realities in Rivers State. He may not have known that the state PDP leader and prospective governorship candidate, Nyesome Wike, has polarised the PDP in Rivers State to the extent that it cannot even win a councillorship seat in a free and fair election.
Wike (Minister of State for Education) is either deluding himself or deliberately feeding Mr. President with lies in a bid to feather his nest, Ikanya added.
Ikanya listed one of the sins of the Jonathan administration against the state as the ceding of oil wells belonging to Rivers to Bayelsa State.
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PDP cant win Rivers, APC replies Jonathan