Femi Fani-Kayode Releases Statement On The Presidential Election

Text of a press conference addressed by Chief 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.