"I’ll resign as minister in one week" – Fayemi

Fayemi, who is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State spoke to State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja shortly after he was formally presented to President Muhammadu Buhari by the chairman of the Ekiti APC primary committee, Tanko Al-Makura.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on Wednesday, said he would resign from the federal cabinet in a week.

W hen asked when he would resign his appointment as a minister, Fayemi initially claimed that there was still a lot of work to be done.

He referred the reporters to Section 182 of the 1999 Constitution which he said allowed him to be in office till at least 30 days to the election.

“There is still a lot of work to do. The constitution again is very clear. What the constitution says in Section 182 is that I must leave the cabinet at least 30 days before the general election,” he said.

When further asked how to describe him since he emerged a candidate and he is still a minister, Fayemi replied, “Well, I am the candidate of our party and I am also a minister of the Federal Republic at least for the next one week. So, for the next one week, I am the Minister of Mines and Steel.”

Fayemi, who is a former governor of the state, said he had crossed a critical hurdle in form of the party primary in his quest to return to the Ekiti State Government House.

Admitting that there is still a major work to do, the governorship candidate expressed delight that those who contested the party ticket with him had seen the work as a collective rescue mission.

He said he had reached out to the aspirants and they had agreed to be part of his advisory council for the election.

With cooperation, he said he was confident that the APC would win the election.

Fayemi dismissed the statement credited to Governor Ayodele Fayose that he (Fayemi) would be defeated with a wide margin for the second term.

“As far as I am aware, Fayose is not on this ballot. We will deal with the candidate on this ballot and the track record that we have in Ekiti is what will sell us,” he said.

The minister also clarified the apology he recently rendered to the people of the state.

He said, “You should understand the context of the apology. Don’t just take the apology on its own.”