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The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress should know that all eyes are on them to back up their preachment for change with credible recruitment of a presidential hopeful which should be done with integrity and purposeful selection for the people whose appetite has been salivated.

This is because the party has raised the hopes and aspirations of the people to high heavens; and therefore should not frustrate the rising expectations of Nigerians for the desired change in their choice of presidential candidate for the 2015 elections. This is because Nigerians do not need a-feeding-bottle-president this time around; or forcing an unwilling horse to the stream! It is glaring that the polity is sliding into the precipice and thus needs sagacious leadership to galvanise the disillusioned supporters.

Dele Ogundele-Lagos,

45, Akapo, street,

Omole,

Lagos State

Go here to see the original:
Letter to APC leaders

THE governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has promised to build on the legacies of the state Governor, Babatunde Fashola.

Ambode, who recently defeated 12 other governorship aspirants of the party at the primaries, said the state would witness increased economic growth, if he won the 2015 elections.

He made the remarks at a thanksgiving service in his honour at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Lagos, a statement said on Sunday.

He said, We have a legacy to build upon, and it is our collective responsibility to build on the progress that Lagos has witnessed in the last 15 years.

I wish to restate my promise, that I commit to the continuation of excellence and the uplift of the lives of all Lagosians.

My mission and vision, is to create a clean, secure and prosperous Lagos State that is driven by a vibrant economy and supported by quality service, equity and justice; a Lagos where no one is left behind and where no one is discriminated against on account of age, religion, creed or origin.

In building on the legacies of the last 15 years, it is important to expand the frontiers of doing business in this state that has the potential to be one of the top five economies in Africa. Lagos deserves nothing less and this will continue to be part of my message to every Lagosian as we begin to solicit their votes towards the February 2015 governorship election.

He added that his over 27 years experience in public service would be an asset to the state if he became the governor in 2015.

Ambode is a graduate of the University of Lagos and a Fulbright scholar and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

For 13 years, he was in service as a treasurer/accountant, across various local government areas in the state. He was later made the Auditor General of local government areas in Lagos, before becoming the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Accountant General of the state.

Read more from the original source:
I will not destroy Fasholas legacies Ambode

Pro-pot legalization advocates have acknowledged a ballot strategy that will place a greater emphasis on 2016. | AP Photo

Groups hope proposition push leads to U.S. action.

By Jonathan Topaz

12/8/14 5:33 AM EST

Progressives, frustrated at gridlock in Washington and at the state level, are planning a major ballot-initiative push across the country as they bank on a likely favorable electorate in 2016.

Groups supporting marijuana legalization, background checks on firearms and raising the minimum wage told POLITICO to expect a larger slate of ballot propositions in 2016 than during the past several election cycles.

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In particular, organizations are confident that after achieving success on progressive ballot initiatives with an older and more conservative bloc of voters in 2014, the younger and more liberal electorate expected to turn out in the upcoming presidential contest will produce some major triumphs.

Its widely expected that referendums on gun control, marijuana legalization and economic fairness issues, including paid sick leave and equal pay, will outnumber those in 2012, a sign that liberals are embracing a state-based model that allows them to circumvent legislatures and Congress.

Conservatives, though, are taking notice, and vowing to blunt the momentum, potentially with competing ballot propositions.

See more here:
Liberals ramp up for state-by-state push in 2016

The Liberal government is taking the first legislative step toward creating a made-in-Ontario pension.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Associate Finance Minister Mitzie Hunter on Monday are introducing the framework legislation that will lead to the creation of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP).

Designed to complement the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), the mandatory ORPP would deduct 1.9 per cent of the pay of Ontarians who do not have a workplace pension plan. Their employers would be forced to match that contribution.

There are some extreme points of view claiming this to be a tax just as they did when CPP was introduced. These are premiums, these are contributions made by individuals into their savings plans for themselves, said Sousa.

None of this money comes into the coffers of the government. Its managed outside of government. They (are making) the same argument today as they made about CPP in the 1960s, the treasurer said.

Hunter said the preferred option at Queens Park is for the federal government to enhance CPP, which pays out a maximum benefit of $12,500 a year.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused to bolster the national pension scheme, so the province is forging ahead on its own.

Mondays legislation commits the government to establish the ORPP by Jan. 1, 2017.

For a worker earning $45,000 a year, the Ontario plan would mean an additional $788 deduction a year with future retirees eventually receiving up to $25,000 in annual benefits.

Noting two-thirds of Ontario workers do not have an employees pension plan, Hunter said the onus is on the province to act to tackle the under-saving problem.

Read the original:
Liberals tabling legislation to create Ontario pension

Liberals on and off Capitol Hill are defending President Obama's healthcare law from the friendly fire of fellow Democrats.

The liberals say the criticisms from Sens. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) are not only flat wrong, but also pointless coming four years after the laws passage.

"I disagree with both of them," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who helped usher the bill into law as then-chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. "I disagree with what they said, and I can't quite see a lot of value in it."

Schumer and Harkin both of whom played an outsized role in crafting the legislation in 2009 and 2010 have raised eyebrows in recent weeks by second-guessing the wisdom of their work.

Schumer said the Democrats' timing was poor, arguing that party leaders should have used the momentum coming out of the Democrats' 2008 election sweep to focus on bread-and-butter economic issues.

After passing the stimulus, Democrats should have continued to propose middle-class-oriented programs and built on the partial success of the stimulus, Schumer, the Senate's third-ranking Democrat, said in a Nov. 25 speech at the National Press Club. Americans were crying out for an end to the recession, for better wages and more jobs not for changes in their healthcare."

Harkin took those jabs a step further this week, arguing that the policy itself is flawed because Democrats didn't fight hard enough for a public insurance option or a single-payer system, like that underlying Medicare.

We had the power to do it in a way that would have simplified healthcare, made it more efficient and made it less costly, and we didnt do it, Harkin, the chairman of the Senate health committee, told The Hill. So I look back and say we should have either done it the correct way or not done anything at all.

What we did is we muddled through and we got a system that is complex, convoluted, needs probably some corrections and still rewards the insurance companies extensively, he added.

Waxman fired back, saying the ObamaCare law was the best the Democrats could do given the resistance from centrist Senate Democrats and outright opposition from Republicans.

Read more:
Liberals punch back at Dem criticism of ObamaCare