The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has resigned his appointment as a cabinet minister.
Fayami made the announcement on Wednesday at a valedictory briefing in Abuja where he explained that he resigned in order to pursue his governorship ambition in Ekiti State.
He had given a hint about his resignation earlier in May before he emerged as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for Ekiti State in the party’s that held on May 22.
He faulted the allegation that he was desperate to become the governor of the state for a second time.
“I’m not Desperate, I have unfinished business In Ekiti,’’ Fayemi said.
Fayemi explained that he was contesting the election because he was unable to complete his mission in his first tenure.
“I have a sense of unfinished business; not a sense of wanting to come back for desperate reasons.
“I served as governor of the state for four years – whatever I’m doing is based on the record that somebody could be subjected to critical scrutiny,” he had said.
President Muhammadu Buhari had congratulated Fayemi and other aspirants who took part in the Ekiti exercise.
“Reclaiming Ekiti Is Important For 2019 Polls,’’ Buhari told APC
The President was optimistic that having won the party’s ticket, the former governor would leverage his track record as a reformist who has a passion for education, health and welfare, to reclaim the governorship seat when the state goes to poll on July 14.
He, had, however, asked members of the APC in Ekiti to uphold the values and philosophy of the ruling party by coming together to support the former minister.
53-year-old Fayemi was a former Governor of Ekiti State and a native of Isan-Ekiti in Oye Local Government.
He lost a re-election in June 2014 to Governor Ayodele Fayose. Fayose of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was also a former governor in Ekiti who was impeached for alleged embezzlement of public funds. (NAN)
