The Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, has said that members and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the state do not know that Senator Hope Uzodinma has joined the ruling party.
The governor said it was insulting to the party in the state for someone to be talking about joining the party from Abuja.
The governor who said this in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, added that the APC in Imo State heard about the rumour of Uzodinma’s entry into the party, just like any other Nigerian.
Onwuemeodo quoted Governor Okorocha as speaking during a meeting with APC leaders across the state, including National Assembly members in Owerri on Monday.
He said there were laid down rules and procedures spelt out in the constitution of the party, which those who want to join the party must follow.
“It is insulting to the party in the state, for someone to be talking about joining the party from Abuja. The procedure is that you start from your ward to your local government and, then, the state, and the state will inform the party at the national level that you are now a member. The reverse cannot be the case.
“When I joined the merger that gave birth to APC, nobody was with me, except drivers, artisans, market women, and low class politicians. None of the big names in Imo politics identified with us. Rather, they told our people that we were working with Muhammadu Buhari to Islamise the state and Igboland.
“They called me Alhaji in Government House. They called me Okoro-Hausa. They attacked us, harassed us, intimidated us, humiliated us with security agents, under the Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency.
“They never believed there could be tomorrow. Today, they all want to join the same party through the back door.
“Honestly, my brothers and sisters, if not for the grace of God, there is no way we would have gathered like this today. Those who had attacked and insulted us are looking for ways to join APC.
“Those who fought us ruthlessly, during the elections, shooting us and carrying ballot boxes, because of federal might are now the ones joining APC. Some are coming from Abuja, some from London and others from America.
“Unless you join APC from the right source, we will not welcome you to APC in Imo State. No one should join APC from the window. The worker deserves his wages; and where you have worked is where you will be paid.
“Now, I have to tell you people all that concerns our party, how and where we have to strategise to win the 2019 election. Let me remind you that this journey didn’t start today.
“The worst thing that APC suffered was carrying the campaign into the church circle, where I suffered untold humiliation from one church to the other to prove my genuineness as a Christian.
“I told my Igbo brothers to please vote Buhari into presidency in 2015. That, whether they voted Buhari or not, he will become Nigeria’s president and it happened,” he said.
