Fani-Kayode, PDP’s BOT secretary hail presidential candidates

THE Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Board of Trustees (BOT) Senator Walid Jibril and former PDP governorship aspirant in Kaduna State Alhaji Shuaibu Idris Mikati have congratulated Gen. Muhammadu Buhari for his victory in the presidential election.

At a media briefing in Abuja yesterday, Fani-Kayode said: “We start by saying that we commend and we congratulate Gen. Buhari for winning this election”.

On the hate campaign he championed against Buhari and other leaders of the opposition, Fani-Kayode said: “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.”

He also praised President Goodluck Jonathan for having the courage to accept defeat at the earliest moment, for being able to stand up and rise above party politics and to speak like a statesman.

According to him, the PDP fought a virile, strong, aggressive and very effective campaign, trying to justify why Jonathan deserved a second term.

He continued: “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, 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.

“May God grant each and every one 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, Gen. Buhari, in the herculean task that lies ahead of him.

Mikati congratulated the president-elect and Jonathan, describing both of them as patriots and statesmen.

Mikati and Senator Jibril spoke with The Nation in separate interviews in Abuja.