*Photos: Fayose says Buhari had his ‘London’ interview at Transcorp Hilton Abuja*PDP Berates APC for Deception*
Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, yesterday declared that the interview with General Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate had with a local television station, “All Eyes on African TV” in London, United Kingdom, was faked.
Buhari during the purported interview
The Governor once again while firing from both cylinders, countered the opposition APC and its Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, declaring that the APC lied over the purported interview.
Governor Fayose who spoke at a press briefing Yesterday said, “General Buhari was in Transcorp telling Nigerians he was in London. He should stop deceiving Nigerians”.
Fayose, while trying to back up his claim, sat on the three-seat sofa which he said was similar to the sofa in the suite as well as the painting on the wall of the room.
He noted that the table lamp and the cupboard in the suite also matched those of the circulated picture.
Also, the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, PDPPCO took a swipe at the All Progressives Congress, APC over the location of interview granted Buhari, saying the APC was founded and built on deceit.
In a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani- Kayode, the PDP accused the APC of giving false information that the interview session took place in London when it was actually at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
Fani-Kayode said, “It has come to light that the All Progressives Congress lied about the location of General Buhari’s interview with Kemi Fadojutimi of the USA-based TV show ‘All Eyes on Africa’.
“While the APC had earlier claimed that the interview was conducted in London, UK, Mr Mukhtar Dan’Iyan has proven through his Twitter handle, @AyeDee, that the interview was actually conducted in the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja. This revelation proves the point we have made at various times in the past that the APC is a party founded and built on deceit.
“As many Nigerians are now aware, in 41 tweets posted on his timeline on Sunday, 22nd February, 2015, Mr Dan’Iyan (@AyeDee), proved to the whole world that the interview under review, which the APC led Nigerians to believe was conducted in faraway London, United Kingdom, was actually carried out here in Abuja at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel.
“Moreover, despite desperate attempts by the APC propaganda machinery to coerce newspapers from retracting the fraudulent picture of Buhari’s purported London interview, The Guardian, one of the newspapers that printed the picture on its front page of Sunday, 22nd February, 2015, was quick to publish a regretful retraction on page 2 of the newspaper’s Monday, 23rd February, 2015 edition.
“In the retraction, The Guardian wrote, and I quote, ‘The front page picture of yesterday in The Guardian on Sunday was not taken during the visit of Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) to London as we erroneously stated. The picture was actually taken in Abuja when he was being interviewed by a journalist. The error is regretted.’
“We want to be very clear about this: Nobody here wishes General Buhari anything other than good health. If the General is unwell, it is only right for him to seek medical attention wherever he chooses. Anybody can fall ill at any time. It is God that keeps us all. And we wish General Buhari good health so that he can spend quality time with his family in his retirement.
“The issue at stake here is the credibility crisis the APC has brought upon itself with these pointless lies. As many Nigerians are now asking: If the APC can lie about the location of an ordinary interview, what else has the party been lying about?
“Was the APC lying when the party said it had not cloned Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs)?
“Was the APC lying when the party said it had no plans to hack into Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) server even after hacking videos were found on its computers by the State Security Service (SSS)?
“Has the APC been lying all along every time it has promised Nigerians ‘change’ in its ceaseless propaganda? Of the utmost importance, is it possible that every single thing about the APC is a lie since the party itself was founded and built on lies?
“We invite Nigerians to assess the situation for themselves.
“Let me conclude by reminding Nigerians that, irrespective of the number of lies that the APC decides to cover itself in, we in the PDP, and our presidential candidate, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, remain committed to implementing our party manifestoes, touching the lives of Nigerians, transforming our nation and bequeathing a legacy of development to future generations.”
The APC Presidential Campaign Organisation had last Saturday circulated a picture Buhari purportedly had during the interview with Kemi Fadojutimi of the local television station in the UK. (Elombah)
What’s Fayose’s beef with how Buhari lives his life. Buhari has appointment in Chatham House and has seen former British Prime minister, Tony Blair- and met with others. Anybody- Young or old, who has been through the intensive campaigns Buhari went through in January and early February, before Jonathan and his PDP goons decided to “Postpone” the elections, and sure defeat would be exhausted and would need rest. I suppose Buhari is getting rest away from the attention and distractions from the zillions of people and issues, he would deal with in another 4 weeks, including reducing expenditure with less money in the campaign fund, unlike PDP who are using state resources and don’t mind a long drawn out period of campaign, money is freely gotten and freely used!