Buhari says he cannot guarantee that Fayemi will win in Ekiti because Nigerian politics is unpredictable

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that he is not certain that his candidate for the Ekiti State governorship elections Dr Kayode Fayemi will win the polls on July 14 because Nigerian elections are unpredictable.

Next month, Ekiti State goes to the polls to elect a new governor, with Dr Fayemi, the former minister of mines and steel development standing as the candidate of President Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC). He will be up against the current deputy governor Professor Kolapo Olusola of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who is being backed by Governor Ayo Fayose.

Speaking yesterday at the presidential villa during the Eid-al-fitr celebrations, President Buhari said Nigeria’s elections were not predictable, which is why he cannot say exactly whether Dr Fayemi would win despite his track record. he used the occasion to call on all Nigerians to work towards salvaging the nation from the shackles of past wrongs.

President Buhari said: “I hope Fayemi will succeed in the elections and lead Ekiti State. He is hardworking and patriotic  but Nigerian politics can be unpredictable.

“We have no other country than Nigeria, so we may as well stay and salvage it together. Please try to persuade your constituencies to work harder for the greatness of this nation."

He told the gathering of religious leaders, traditional rulers, security chiefs and top government officials to start expanding the frontiers for development by sensitizing their constituencies’ to work harder for the collective good of the country. President Buhari said Nigeria had a peculiar advantage of being blessed with enormous human and material resources, noting that the potentials could be turned around for the greater good of everyone.

At the event, the president commended Dr Fayemi, for his efforts at discovering and repositioning Nigeria’s mineral potentials. President Buhari, who disclosed that he could not fast last year due to ill health, said he was able to fully participate in the spiritual exercise this year, as the benefits were not optional for any healthy Muslim.

Federal capital territory minister Muhammad Bello, said the Ramadan period provided an auspicious opportunity to pray for the nation and the wellbeing of the president and his family. Senator Bala Ibn Na’allah, who represented the senate president Senator Bukola Saraki, said the National Assembly will keep supporting the vision of the administration for a greater Nigeria, noting that no administration since 1999 had received more cooperation from the legislature like President Buhari.