Dino Melaye rejects Kogi PDP appointment

Senator Dino Melaye Friday said he has turned down an appointment to serve as director-general of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship campaign in Kogi State.

“Let me state categorically that I have turned down the position of Director-General of the PDP Kogi State Governorship Campaign Council,” Melaye said in a tweet.

“I wish PDP all the best.”

Melaye contested and lost the PDP governorship primary election to Musa Wada.

Wada polled a total of 748 votes to defeat his closed opponent Ibrahim Abubakar, who polled 710 votes.

Wada’s elder brother and the immediate past governor of the state Idris Wada, came third with 345 votes while Dino Melaye polled 70 votes to emerge fourth.

Melaye thereafter rejected the result and has since fallen out with the party hierarchy in Kogi State.

“It is ridiculous to declare a final result of PDP Governorship primary election in Kogi State when my votes sorted out yesterday in 8 out of 10 ballot boxes are missing,” Melaye twitted after the election.

He alleged that only two out of 10 ballot boxes were declared his votes and are “totally unacceptable.”

Prior to the election loss, the Kogi State National Assembly election tribunal nullified Melaye’s election as the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District.

Melaye was declared the winner of the February election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but the tribunal said the election was marred by over-voting and violence.

The tribunal ordered INEC to conduct re-election for Kogi West Senatorial District.

Although Melaye did not state his reasons to reject the appointment but opined that “When truth is a casualty there is chaos.