Death wish advert: Jonathan, PDP distance selves from Fayose

President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have distanced themselves from the advertisements in some major newspapers by Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, warning against voting for the APC presidential candidate, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), because of the possibilities that he would die in office because of his age.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, APCPCO, yesterday dismissed the denial by the PDP as “merely a case of a master dissociating himself from the errand boy after the message had backfired.”

Fayose had in the publications entitled “Enough of state burials,” warned that almost all the past Presidents from the North-West died in the office, adding: “Will thou allow history to repeat itself? Enough of state burials, Nigerians vote wisely, vote Goodluck Jonathan, Northern Presidency should wait till 2019.”

Reacting to the advertisement, yesterday, in Abuja, Director of Media and Publicity of PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, noted that the organisation and the party were not in support of the governor’s position on the issue.

Fani-Kayode said: “Governor Ayo Fayose is a distinguished leader of our party; a democratically elected governor and someone we have immense respect and affection for and he released this advert in his own name. That represents his own personal opinion which he is entitled to.

“What I can tell you on our part is that it does not represent the opinion of the Presidential Campaign Organisation or indeed the President. It is his (Fayose’s) opinion, which he is entitled to and he is somebody that we have immense respect for.

“He is a leading member of the party. I have spoken with him and we respect him but for any body to suggest that this is the position of the Presidential Campaign Organisation or President Goodluck Jonathan that will be most unfair.

“If we wanted to say something like that we will say it without any kind of apology but of course, we will never say that because we believe in the sanctity of life. Age is not a function of how long you will live.

“It is important that we recognise the fact that age is not an indication of how long somebody will live. We believe strongly that we must continue to show immense respect to the person of General Buhari.”