Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
There was general laughter when President Muhammadu Buhari asked the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and his Communications counterpart, Adebayo Shittu, to pray at the opening of the Federal Executive Council meeting.
As soon as Buhari announced the name of Amaechi for the Christian prayer, one of the minister shouted “no election,” amidst laughter.
The president, who referred to Adebayo as ‘minister of communications, Oyo State,’ also elicited laughter among the ministers.
Former Vice President and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar won the presidential election held across the 33 local government areas in Oyo state.
Atiku won with 366,640 votes, to defeat Buhari, who scored 365,229 votes.
The APC in Oyo also lost the governorship poll to the PDP.
The APC candidate, Adebayo Adelabu, backed by the incumbent Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, lost to his PDP’s counterpart, Seyi Makinde, with a margin of 157, 635 votes. While Makinde polled 515,621 votes, Adelabu came second with 357,982 votes.
The PDP presidential candidate also won in Rivers State where he scored 473,971; to defeat Buhari who had 150,710 votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission stopped announcement of results of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections in Rivers state, due to what it referred to as the violence which engulfed the state.