Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has reaffirmed the position of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, saying that the ruling party remains the party to beat in the state. Uzodimma’s gave this word of reassurance when he appeared on Channels Television Politics Today programme on Thursday. His reassurances come as the party prepares for the November 11 governorship election in the state.
The governor believes that the party’s performance in the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections, including the March 18 state legislative election, is a pointer to the capability and strength of the party in the coming gubernatorial election.
He pointed to the number of federal and state legislative seats the APC was able to get in the elections, which added to the cross-carpeting of some members of the opposition party into the fold of the APC.
He debunked the notion that the presidential election is a pointer to which party will win the governorship election, advising those predicting his defeat to rethink.
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He said, “The presidential election in Nigeria is calculated and cannot be used to assess the result of the gubernatorial election. In a presidential election, the results are called according to the number of votes scored in Nigeria, and in terms of the number of votes cast in Nigeria, the APC won.
“In the governorship election, the result will be based on the number of votes cast in Imo State, and until that is done, nobody should bet his chest and say that this is going to be the result. I am trying to give you indicators pointing to the fact that APC is the party to beat in Imo State.”
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator explained that the review of the performance of the party during his time as governor has motivated many members of the opposition parties to jump ship.
“That APC has done so well that there is an exodus from other political parties coming into our great party, APC. Only two weeks ago, four standing members of the Federal House of Representatives left their party and moved to the APC. It means that there is something attractive in the current design and performance of the APC government in Imo State.
“You know the two major factors that greeted the last presidential election. that of tribe, religion, and ethnicity. However, it is my responsibility and yours to create better awareness for our people so that we can begin to think Nigeria, act like Nigerians, and then behave like Nigerians,” he noted.
