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A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State, and the governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in the 2011 election, Mr. Valentine Nnadozie, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party along with his supporters.

A statement from the Office of the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor said Nnadozie announced his defection to the PDP during a solidarity visit with his followers to Governor Sullivan Chime at the Government House.

According to the statement, Nnadozie said the decision to join the PDP was influenced by the achievements of the party in Enugu State and also at the federal level.

Nnadozie, during the solidarity visit, told Chime and the leaders of the PDP in the state that he was coming to the party with over eighty percent of the more than 300,000 registered members of the APC in Enugu State.

Nnadozie, who was a member of the PDP before moving to the defunct ACN to contest the 2011 governorship election, pleaded with Chime and the leaders of the PDP to re-admit him and his supporters as lost sheep into the fold.

We have come sir, to ask you and PDP to kindly re-admit your lost sheep into the PDP family, having gone to the wilderness over these years.

We have come to identify with you and the transformation agenda ofPresident Jonathan and the giant strides of your administration in Enugu State.

We have come to pledge our loyalty to you and the PDP, he said.

Nnadozie explained that his sojourn in the APC had deprived him of the platform to talk for his people, as, according to him, the opposition partys ideologies negated his own political philosophy.

We have come to work together with you and PDP to move our dear Enugu State forward and to the next level, he told Chime.

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Enugu APC chief, supporters defect to PDP

Are these men sniffing? (REUTERS/Jim Bourg)

We have long known that liberals are more likely to choose other liberals as romantic partners and that conservatives alsotend to prefermates with similar political viewpoints. Indeed, other than religion, ideology is a strongercorrelate than other traits in the selection of long-term partners. But how does this work?

A new article in the American Journal of Political Science by Rose McDermott (Brown), Dustin Tingley (Harvard), and Peter Hatemi (Penn State)suggests that the explanation could be that liberals and conservatives smell differently and that each prefers the smell of ideologically similar persons. That body odor influences attractionis well-established. The authors argue that smell signals alsoserve other functions, such asdisease avoidance, cheater detection, defense against outgroups,and social cohesion. These may be related to political ideology. For example, they note:

[..] greater disgust sensitivity, which is intimately interconnected with the neural substrates of smell, predicts more conservative positions, particularly around issues involving morality and sexual reproduction. These underlying, physically experienced predilections can come to be expressed as opinions on such topics as abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage, and a host of other ideological topics

They then claim:

If social attitudes are linked to odor[..]then one mechanism that odor preferencestransfer from parents to children may operate throughtheir mothers choice of mate. In this way, social processesmay drive some of the pathways by which individualscome to prefer those whose ideological smellmatches their own.

The researchers askeda group of ideologically diverse people to rate the body scent of both liberals and conservatives (without seeing them in person). On average, ideologically similar people appreciated the scent of similarly disposed people more. So, scent could be a way in which we subconsciously select mates of similar dispositions.

Before the more creative among us go outand create perfumes for liberals and conservatives, I should note that the effect is very small and teeters on the edge of what we would normally call statistically significant. That is: we are not as certain as we would ideally like to be that the finding isnt a consequence of mere chance. There are probably other more important mechanisms that produce sorting on ideology than smell. Still, its an innovative new study on the link between biology and politics.

Erik Voeten is the Peter F. Krogh Associate Professor of Geopolitics and Justice in World Affairs at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of Government.

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Monkey Cage: Liberals smell better to other liberals than to conservatives

The federal Liberals are riding a wave of popularity, according to a new Nanos poll, with the party showing gains in B.C., Quebec and among Canadians over 60 years of age.

According to results of the weekly Nanos Party Power Index, 58.5 per cent of Canadians would consider voting for the Liberals, which is a 12-month high for the party. The NDP is in second place with 45.1 per cent, while the Conservatives have 40.2 per cent and 27.8 per cent would consider voting for the Green Party.

The Liberals also gained strength on the Canada Party Power Index, which considers first and second vote preferences; whether the respondent would consider voting for the party; first and second preferences for prime minister; and whether the respondent believes the current leader has the quality to be a good leader.

This week, the Liberals stand at 59.1 points out of 100, which is a new 12-month high, followed by the Conservatives at 48.4 points, the NDP at 47.6 points, and the Green Party at 30.7 points.

Nik Nanos, president of Nanos Research, said it was a good summer for Trudeau.

He has cruised through the barbecue circuit and is trending up, even though he hasnt put a lot in the window on the public policy front, Nanos said on CTVs Power Play.

When asked about preferred prime minister, 34 per cent of those surveyed said Justin Trudeau is their preferred choice for Canadas next prime minister, which is a 12-month high for the Liberal leader.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is trailing behind with 27.7 per cent of support, while NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is at 16.9 per cent, and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May holds 4.8 per cent.

But despite it being pretty clear that Canadians are favouring Trudeau, Nanos said those numbers could change closer to election time.

The reality is, when you dont put out platform ideas, there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to repel voters, he said. In a way, this is almost an artificial honeymoon. Harper is basically shadowboxing with Justin Trudeau, theres no policies or platform for him to take a punch at.

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Liberal strength climbs in all measures of Nanos power index

The federal Liberals are riding a wave of popularity, according to a new Nanos poll, with the party showing gains in B.C., Quebec and among Canadians over 60 years of age.

According to results of the weekly Nanos Party Power Index, 58.5 per cent of Canadians would consider voting for the Liberals, which is a 12-month high for the party. The NDP is in second place with 45.1 per cent, while the Conservatives have 40.2 per cent and 27.8 per cent would consider voting for the Green Party.

The Liberals also gained strength on the Canada Party Power Index, which considers first and second vote preferences; whether the respondent would consider voting for the party; first and second preferences for prime minister; and whether the respondent believes the current leader has the quality to be a good leader.

This week, the Liberals stand at 59.1 points out of 100, which is a new 12-month high, followed by the Conservatives at 48.4 points, the NDP at 47.6 points, and the Green Party at 30.7 points.

Nik Nanos, president of Nanos Research, said it was a good summer for Trudeau.

He has cruised through the barbecue circuit and is trending up, even though he hasnt put a lot in the window on the public policy front, Nanos said on CTVs Power Play.

When asked about preferred prime minister, 34 per cent of those surveyed said Justin Trudeau is their preferred choice for Canadas next prime minister, which is a 12-month high for the Liberal leader.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is trailing behind with 27.7 per cent of support, while NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is at 16.9 per cent, and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May holds 4.8 per cent.

But despite it being pretty clear that Canadians are favouring Trudeau, Nanos said those numbers could change closer to election time.

The reality is, when you dont put out platform ideas, there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to repel voters, he said. In a way, this is almost an artificial honeymoon. Harper is basically shadowboxing with Justin Trudeau, theres no policies or platform for him to take a punch at.

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Liberal support climbs in all measures of Nanos power index

CTV Montreal Published Wednesday, September 17, 2014 12:55PM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, September 17, 2014 1:24PM EDT

The provincial government is working on what it calls a 'moderate' version of the Charter of Values.

Premier Couillard said the Liberals would present a bill early on in their mandate, and Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee said she expects to introduce legislation this autumn.

Vallee said her government has learned a few lessons from the Parti Quebecois and its hotly-debated charter project, and will ensure that anything which is introduced will not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"Let's not forget the intervention made by the Commission des droits de la personne et de la jeunesse [Quebec Human Rights Commission] last year and the [Quebec] bar and all these people that had important things to say," said Vallee. "We're taking it into account."

Vallee said her legislation would allow all religious symbols but place limits on the burka, and the niqab, which cover a woman's face, and the chador, a long veil which covers the hair and arms and is seen as a symbol of religious oppression.

In 2010 the then-Liberal government introduced Bill 94, which introduced similar restrictions, but was never adopted.

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Quebec Liberals working on 'moderate' Charter of Values