President Muhammadu Buhari, Friday said Nigeria’s election was not predictable, the only reason he cannot say exactly whether his former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi would win the coming Ekiti governorship election. Buhari, however, expressed optimism that with Fayemi’s track record, he may sail through.
The president made this statement in Abuja on Friday, while calling on all Nigerians to work towards salvaging the nation from the shackles of past wrongs by sharing in the collective vision for a greater Nigeria and contributing individually to realise the goal.
President Buhari, who received FCT residents at the Presidential Villa for the Eid-al-fitr celebration, urged all citizens to embrace the reality that Nigeria must exist and continue as one nation, noting that the country needs all its human and material resources to succeed.
“We have no other country than Nigeria. We may as well stay and salvage it together,’’ he said.
President Buhari 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.
“Please try to persuade your constituencies to work harder for the greatness of this nation,’’ he added.
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.
The President commended former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, for the efforts at discovering and repositioning Nigeria’s mineral potentials.
“I hope Fayemi will succeed in the elections and lead Ekiti State. He is hardworking and patriotic, but Nigerian politics can be unpredictable,’’ President Buhari said.
The President, 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.
In his remarks, the Minister of FCT, Muhammad Musa Bello, said the Ramadan provided an auspicious opportunity to pray for the nation, and the wellbeing of the President and his family.
Representative of the Senate President, Sen. Bala Ibn Na’allah, 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.’’
President Buhari also received women groups led by his wife, Aisha Buhari, President of the National Council of Women Societies, Dr. Laraba Shoda, and former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Pauline Tallen.
