In reply to the wrap around advertisement in a section of the Nigerian media on Monday in which Governor Ayodele Fayose warned Nigerians of Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Nigerians to choose between life and death, the Buhari Campaign Organisation has warned President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to face their campaigns squarely and stop placing their campaigns in the hands of war mongers.
The Campaign Organisation said PDP is filled with those who truly want to plunge the country into war.
Fayose had throughout Monday received a barrage of insults and criticisms from Nigerians for sponsoring such an advert with some warning him to be mindful of his choice of words in order not to throw the country into chaos.
Speaking through a statement signed by the Director of Media and Publicity of the campaign, Mallam Garba Shehu, the campaign organisation called Fayose’s action the height of desperate tactics by the PDP, which is capable of degenerating into unnecessary bloodshed and destruction.
“They are choosing death for us. This is not politics. We are therefore, asking our supporters to stay calm and be law-abiding,” Sehu said.
“Even as a candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has a duty to lead the country with responsibility up until 29th May, when a new President will be inaugurated.”
The campaign organisation also informed Nigerians not to be mindful of the deeper meaning of Fayose’s advert which could mean that there is a grand plot to eliminate Buhari either before or after the election, especially considering how the PDP and its loyalists have circulated a fake health report about the former Army General.
“The whole world is watching and if anything happens to General Muhammadu Buhari before, during or after the elections, under the pretext of X, Y, or Z, we shall be left with no option than to conclude that the PDP and their surrogates are to be held accountable,” Shehu warned.
He noted that the PDP, knowing it was heading for a loss, is looking for every means to derail democracy adding that while the APC had continued to maintain decorum in its campaign, the PDP and Jonathan have resorted to name calling and denigration of Buhari right from his campaign flag-off in Lagos.
To Buhari, the PDP and Jonathan are only paying lip-service to the peace accord that the President signed just a few days ago in the presence of prominent citizens of the world.
Buhari thus warned his loyalists to remain peaceful and not return the PDP’s provocation but rather work towards the emergence of his victory in the election.
While advising security agencies, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the advertising regulatory agency, which the party has petitioned as a result of the advertisement, to ensure that they rise up to their task, he re-emphasised his decision that the PDP was looking for every provocation to truncate Nigeria’s democracy.
Meanwhile, Governor Ayodele Fayose has declared that his mission is to ensure the emergence of President Jonathan in the election, saying what he was doing is a sort of pay-back for the support he got from the Jonathan when he contested for governorship in Ekiti State.
Speaking at the flag-off of the campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party’s House of Assembly and National Assembly candidates in the state on Monday, Fayose tasked Ekiti people to make sure they returned Jonathan adding that he would not forget them in his second term.
He described Jonathan as humble and one who never gets carried away by the power of his office.
“President Goodluck Jonathan supported me when I was contesting and this is a payback time. We have to support him because it was God that brought him into power.
“Apart from the fact that President Jonathan has done his best for Nigeria, presidency is a very powerful position that needed a humble personality like Jonathan to super-intend over.
“So Ekiti must stand up for Jonathan and I want to assure you, he will not forget you,” he said.
