The minister was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday by Governor Tanko al-Makura of Nasarawa State who served as the chairman of the APC primary election committee for Ekiti State.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the presentation, Fayemi also said he had not resigned from his ministerial post because he still has a lot to do.
But he hinted that he would be quitting by next week even though he asserted that the constitution gives him up to 30 days before the conduct of the election.
He said: “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.
“Well, I am the candidate of our party and I am also the 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 said he was on a rescue mission to Ekiti, adding that he has crossed a critical hurdle having emerged as the flag bearer of the ruling party in the July 14th governorship election in Ekiti.
While noting that there was a lot of work to be done, he said he and his co-contestants were seeing the coming election as a collective rescue mission.
On his emergence as the APC candidate, he declared: “Well, a critical hurdle has been crossed but we still have a major work to do. The important thing is to see this as a collective rescue mission and I am glad that my co-contestants have seen it in that light.
ALSO READ: Ekiti 2018: Don’t celebrate Pyrrhic victory yet, Fayose tells Fayemi
“I have met with all the co-contestants, I have broken fast with them, I have shared ideas with them, I have also extended an olive branch to them to be part of the candidate advisory council for this election, and they have all graciously agreed to do that. We are confident that the APC will carry the day but there is still a lot of work to do.”
On the assertion by Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose that his emergence was a walk in the park for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as he will be roundly defeated, Fayemi said: “Well, 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 that will sell us.”
On the probe panel report that indicted him and his public apology to Ekiti people, Fayemi stated: “You should understand the context of the apology. Don’t just take the apology on its own.
“What I said was that clearly, there were people in Ekiti even though they were the minority, who were not happy with some of the policies and programmes of our government whilst we were in office and to such people, I rendered an apology.
“But, for me, the rescue mission in Ekiti is a job that has to be done. What do you want? You want continuity of lack of salary, continuity of poverty, continuity of want, continuity of directionlessness or you want to return to a past of buoyancy, human development, accountability and transparency in government. That is the clear dividing line and people can see that.
“As to the probe panel that you mentioned, well, I don’t want to dwell on the probe panel. But the law of the land of is clear. It is only a court of competent jurisdiction that can convict anyone, any Nigerian for any malfeasance.
“You cannot sit in your house, cook up a probe panel, a kangaroo tribunal and you say you have indicted someone and that person is guilty and should be ban from public office. That is just a joke but then, the man we are talking about is an Alawada like we say in Yorubaland. So, that is not surprising.”
and then