Full Text of a press conference as addressed by Femi
Fani-Kayode, Director Media and Publicity Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Campaign Organisation on April 1, 2015.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media,
We have come here today to express our gratitude to the
Nigerian people for the overwhelming support that we received over the last few
weeks when it comes to the issue of the Presidential election.
We fought a virile, strong, aggressive and very effective
campaign on behalf of our candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan and we put the
case to the Nigerian people as to why we believe that he ought to have
been elected as President for a second term.
We are very proud of the efforts of our President and
of our party and we are also very proud of the efforts of every
single one of those who participated in the Presidential Campaign
Organisation. As a Directorate we could not have asked for anything more in
terms of support and encouragement from our colleagues and comrades within the
party and the Campaign Organisation. I am personally very proud of my
team, every single one of them; my Assistant Directors, my officers, my
advisory team and every single one of those that joined hands to help
us to state our case and to sell our candidate to the Nigerian people.
It has however come to a point that we must tell the
world and the Nigerian people about how we feel about the outcome of the
election. What we will say here today is basically to reiterate and
to reflect the words of our leader and President, President Goodluck Jonathan.
We start by saying that we commend and we congratulate General
Muammadu Buhari for winning this election. We also wish to commend our
President, President Goodluck Jonathan, for having the courage to concede that
he has lost the election at the earliest moment and also for being able to
stand up and rise above party politics and being able to speak like a
statesman.
We therefore urge the Nigerian people and our
teeming supporters to stand firm and continue to support the democratic
process and continue to agitate for a better Nigeria. We urge them to continue
to support our party the PDP as best as they can even though we lost this
election. We ask them to co-operate with the incoming government and to
remember that we are first and foremost Nigerians before anything else.
On the day of the election when I went to vote at
Ile-Ife, I held a press conference in which I told the people that
more than anything else that we should try our very best to keep the
peace in this country and to keep the country moving forward. I also reminded
them that in every election there will always be a winner and a loser. It is a
mark of our humanity and it is also symptomatic of the type of people that
we are and who we are that when the time comes we can say we fought a
good fight but we lost.
And having lost, it does not mean that it is the end
to the world, it just means that we need to re-group, re-organise
ourselves and begin the process all over again because another elections will
come in a few years time. And that is where we are today. We have
conceded that we have lost. We acknowledge the fact that we fought a good
fight. We do not have any fears about the future. We did the right thing
during the campaign. We have no regrets about our
candidate or the way in which we conducted our
campaign and we will live to fight another day.
Finally let me commend all our colleagues on
the other side for also standing up for what they believed in. There was
absolutely nothing personal as regards this Directorate or
myself. I had nothing personal against anybody. I was simply doing my job
for which I have no regrets and I wish them well and I sincerely hope
that they will take Nigeria to a level that we can all be proud of.
May God grant each and everyone of us peace. May He watch
over our nation. May He guide our President for the next two months whilst
he is still in power and thereafter and may He guide and lead the
President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, in the herculean task that lies
ahead for him. My prayer is that he brings our nation together, heals the
wounds and that he builds the bridges in terms of religion, ethnicity and
region that he needs to build in order for us to make Nigeria a better
place and to ensure that Nigeria becomes a great country that she is destined
to be.
I want to end this message by thanking our colleagues in
the press for always responding to us so quickly and for always being
ready to hear our message and for putting it out there. Also those on the
social media, both friend and foe, we thank you for your efforts. We
thank our foes because they kept us on our toes and we thank our friends
because they encouraged us and gave us hope.
May God grant you all peace and joy and
may you live long and prosper.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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