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.
Posted from 112world
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