Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State on Friday said anyone who refused to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) might continue to fast until God answered the prayers.
Governor Uzodinma said this while fielding questions from State House reporters after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari again at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, over the erosion crisis in his State.
The governor, while reacting to a question on the movement from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in South East geo-political zone, expressed optimism that more people from the region would still join the ruling party with the entry of Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State who had transformed his status as an “orphan”.
He said that it would be more cost effective for the people of South East to see reason and join a national party repeatedly committed to national unity, integration, and cohesion.
He said the current campaign to bring in more people into the APC was not targeted at governors alone but the entire political class, stressing that “The whole idea is making the ideology of the party known to the people, allaying their fears, and encouraging them to come. Once you believe in Nigeria and you have a pan-Nigeria attitude, of course, you will go for a national party.
“There is no gainsaying that if you are not with the national party, and you choose to be in opposition, of course, you will continue to fast until God answers your prayers. But we that are in the ruling, of course, what it will take us to solve certain problems may be different from what it will take somebody who is not very close to the source of authority to solve his own problems.
“There is no way you can compare what your people will get in an opposition party to what they will get from the ruling party. APC is the ruling party which has access to the federal government.
“I’m very optimistic that gradually, we will get there. It’s a matter of convincing our people, which we are doing,” he added.