The Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai on Monday disclosed that he was shocked when his party, All Progressives Congress lost the governorship election in Edo as declared by INEC on Sunday.
This disclosure was made by the Kaduna state governor while granting an interview on Channels TV this morning.
El-Rufai said that polls indicated the APC would win barely three weeks to the election.
El-Rufai further stated on Sunrise Daily that his party, APC would have loved to win.
“Quite frankly I was optimistic, he added.
The Kaduna state governor stated as follow;
“Up to three weeks ago, the polls indicated that we were going to win. I don’t know what happened in the last two, three weeks of the campaign.
“As you know, a large number of voters make up their minds in the last two weeks of election. Many voters decide, no matter what happens, this is how I am voting. But most people want to wait and watch and make up their minds in the last two weeks.
“Three weeks ago, the polls clearly showed that APC was going to win, but the results came out differently from what we expected.”
However, El-Rufai commended how the election played out and commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his policy of non-interference in elections.
“The election was reasonably decent,” he said.
“We were all worried about violence; there was very little violence or none at all. So Obaseki has won, that’s it. You can’t go into an election without adverting your mind to the possibility of losing.
“And one thing President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has always done is to say that there must be free and fair election and the people’s choice must prevail.
“And the President has never used what is called Federal Might that other governments have used in the past to steal elections. We always insist that everyone should go and pitch to the people and may the best man win. And we can live with it.”