Kayode, Director Media and Publicity Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) Campaign Organisation on 1st April, 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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