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Tag: Kogi West

  • Wike’s camp chastises Dino Melaye, calls him a wet doll

    Wike’s camp chastises Dino Melaye, calls him a wet doll

    The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Rivers State chapter has chastised Senator Dino Melaye for attacking the state governor, Nyesom Wike.

    TheNewsGuru.com  recalls that Wike had condemned the  Party for trying to manipulate and give Senator Dino the party’s ticket for the Kogi guber election, a comment which generated reactions from Dino on Wednesday.

    The Rivers Governor had in a media chat on Tuesday rubbished the move by Dino to get the governorship ticket, saying the latter is not fit to be governor.

    But in a counter-reaction, Dino warned Wike to steer clear of his governorship ambition, stressing that the Kogi people will not worship him (Wike) as the people of Rivers do.

    The former lawmaker accused the Rivers Governor of hating him because he was unable to secure the party’s presidential ticket in 2022 and the inability of Atiku Abubakar to pick him as his running mate.

    Speaking on the matter, the PDP Director of Publicity in Rivers State, Ogbonna Nwuke, described Dino Melaye as a wet doll, saying the former lawmaker will learn his lessons after the poll.

    Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, Nwuke recalled that Dino cried like a baby in 2022 when T.J. Yusuf in alliance with Governor Wike beat him silly to clinch the PDP’s ticket for Kogi West Senatorial ticket.

    He said, “How can a man who could not win his senatorial district aspire to lead a state? I think this may be what Governor Wike was alluding to.

    “Dino is a wet doll, who thought and still thinks that riding on the back of Atiku would give him the key to the Kogi State Government House.

    “Getting the PDP ticket is one thing, winning the election is another. Dino will find out later how things work. He will find out as the saying goes that ‘khaki no be leather’.

  • Kogi 2023: Senator Smart Adeyemi joins governorship race

    Kogi 2023: Senator Smart Adeyemi joins governorship race

    Senator Smart Adeyemi who’s  representing Kogi West, at the upper chamber of the National Assembly has shown interest in vying for the governorship position of Kogi state.

    Kogi state governorship election will hold later in 2023 as fixed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC)

    Meanwhile, Adeyemi’s party, the  All Progressives Congress (APC),  has fixed April 10, 2023, for the party’s governorship primaries in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states.

    Adeyemi, who is serving his third term in the Senate, representing Kogi West, is known for his imprint on the political landscape of the state since joining politics in 2007, after serving as a two-term President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). He served two terms of eight years as Senator on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Although he had lost his initial bid for a third term to Senator Dino Melaye, then of the APC, in 2015, Adeyemi, however, bounced back to the Senate in 2019, reclaiming Kogi West Senate mandate from Melaye. But this only came to be after he and Melaye had swapped parties.

    Prior to 2019 polls, Adeyemi left PDP to pitch tent with APC, and to the embrace of Governor Yahaya Bello, who appointed him Chairman, Kogi Elders advisory Council.

    This became expedient when, in the search for legitimacy at the early stages of Bello’s reign, the administration had to contend with internal opposition in the ruling APC, arising from the controversial process leading to Bello’s emergence as governor.

    Recall that Abubakar Audu/James Faleke faction had challenged the choice of Bello ahead of Faleke, who was running mate to Audu, who died while cruising to victory at the 2015 polls.

    His running mate, Faleke, had been denied the right to claim the mandate by the courts, which transferred the votes to Yahaya Bello, who had come second in the August 2015 APC governorship primary.

    After protracted legal battles, the Supreme Court affirmed Bello as winner of the supplementary election that followed November governorship election earlier declared as inconclusive, upon Audu’s sudden death.

    For most of the past seven years APC has been holding sway in the state, Adeyemi was visibly marked as an outspoken, vociferous defender of Bello’s policies. He was the coordinator for Bello’s second term campaign in 2019.

  • Fani-Kayode is a serial hustler, lobbied for Atiku campaign team job – Dino Melaye

    Fani-Kayode is a serial hustler, lobbied for Atiku campaign team job – Dino Melaye

    Melaye further revealed that  Fani-Kayode made moves and consulted Timi Frank to help facilitate his recruitment into Atiku’s campaign team.

    He described Fani-Kayode as a political serial hustler.

    Melaye insisted that Fani-Kayode was seeking attention by delving into the PDP crisis, saying his sojourn at PDP was a big misadventure.

    Melaye’s statement reads in Part: “The roller-coaster FFK is merely seeking to receive attention, having employed all forms of ingratiation to be recruited by the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, but failed.

    “To be sure, he contacted Timi Frank to help lobby for a job in the Campaign Directorate, but where is the record to help his desire?

    “As a serial hustler around food dispensers, FFK’s misadventure into the issue of the leadership of the PDP is nothing but a subtle campaign to be noticed and rewarded by prospective paymasters.”

  • PDP primaries: The gang up is unimaginable – Dino Melaye reacts after losing Kogi West ticket

    Dino Melaye has said “the gang up” against him was “unimaginable” after losing the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) ticket for Kogi West Senatorial District to Teejay Yusuf.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Melaye made this known via his official Twitter handle shortly after the primary rerun on Tuesday, while also congratulating Yusuf for pulling through.

    “The Primary has been fought and won. I congratulate Hon. T.J YUSUF and thank all those who voted in the first and second ballot for me. The Gang up is unimaginable but l give God praise. God bless you all,” Melaye tweeted.

    TNG reports Yusuf polled 163 delegate votes to defeat Melaye who polled 99 votes in the primary election rerun held today.

  • PDP primaries: TeeJay floors Melaye to win Kogi West PDP Senate ticket

    PDP primaries: TeeJay floors Melaye to win Kogi West PDP Senate ticket

    Tajudeen Yusuf has floored Dino Melaye in the primary election conducted by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Kogi West Senatorial District.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the primary election of the PDP for Kogi West had earlier ended in a deadlock.

    However, Yusuf polled 163 delegate votes to emerge victorious over Melaye who polled 99 votes in the primary election rerun.

     

    Details shortly…

  • Kogi West: Melaye loses final bid to return as 9th Assembly senator

    Kogi West: Melaye loses final bid to return as 9th Assembly senator

    It is end of the road for Senator Dino Melaye as the Appeal Court in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed his appeal against Senator Smart Adeyemi.

    The court upheld the victory of Adeyemi as winner of the Kogi West Senatorial District election held last year.

    The Electoral Tribunal had thrown out Melaye’s suit, but he went to the Appeal Court to challenge Adeyemi’s victory and lost.

    The three-man panel of the court unanimously resolved all seven issues, identified for determination, against Melaye.

    The court upheld the judgment delivered on June 10, 2020 by the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which affirmed the declaration of Adeyemi as winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

  • Kogi West: Melaye loses at Tribunal, says ‘I never expected justice at this level’

    The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal has dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Kogi West senatorial candidate, Dino Melaye.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC had declared Adeyemi as the winner of the poll against Dino Melaye of PDP.

    Adeyemi garnered 88,373 votes while Dino Melaye scored 62,133.

    But Melaye petitioned the tribunal seeking for him to be declared the winner of the election or on the contrary, the election is quashed for INEC to conduct a fresh election.

    However, the three judges of the tribunal in a unanimous ruling on Wednesday said the petitioners’ witnesses failed to substantiate their claims in the petition to warrant granting Melaye his prayers.

    They also held that the Dino Melaye failed to prove non-compliance with the standard of electoral acts in the election.

    The tribunal said all the 71 witnesses called by the petitioners contracted themselves during cross-examinations and made a “worthless, unreliable and unmerited statement” that cannot be relied on.

    The court also rejected the videos and other documents presented by the Petitioner during the final written addresses, because they were not pleaded uring proceedings.

    The Tribunal subsequently dismissed Melaye’s petition and upheld Senator Smart Adeyemi as duly and lawfully elected in the Kogi West Senate election.

    Reacting to the development, Dino Melaye said: “I never expected Justice at this level. But we shall laugh last.”

    He confirmed that he will seek redress at the Court of Appeal.

    Dino Melaye, however, urged his supporters to stay away from violence and remain happy as he believed “justice” will be achieved.

  • Kogi West: It’s Official! Smart Adeyemi kicks Melaye out of Senate

    Kogi West: It’s Official! Smart Adeyemi kicks Melaye out of Senate

    Senator Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress has ousted Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party from the Senate, according to the official result declared in Lokoja on Saturday night.

    Adeyemi will now represent Kogi West in the ninth senate.

    The Returning Officer of the election, Professor Olajide Lawal, said Adeyemi, who represented the district from 2007-2015, polled 88,373 votes to beat Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 62,133 votes.

    Ambassador Rufus Aiyenigba of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) came third in the poll with 659 votes and was trailed by John Olabode and Adeyemi Taiwo of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Nigeria Elements Progressive Party (NEPP who) garnered 262 and 119 votes respectively.

    INEC had initially declared the result inconclusive after the 16 November election, because the margin of victory was lower than the cancelled votes.

    This necessitated the supplementary poll that took place in 53 polling units today.

  • INEC considers Nov. 16 for Kogi West Senate election

    INEC considers Nov. 16 for Kogi West Senate election

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will explore the possibility of using the Nov. 16 governorship election to conduct a fresh election for the Kogi West Senatorial district.

    The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Kogi, Nasarawa and Kwara States, Alhaji Mohammed Haruna, dropped the hint in Lokoja on Friday.

    Fielding questions from newsmen on the Court Appeal judgment nullifying the election of Sen. Dino Melaye, Haruna said that since the governorship election was still 34 days away, there was possibility for the election to hold same day.

    Recalled that the Court of Appeal in Abuja nullified the election of PDP’s Melaye and ordered INEC to conduct fresh election within 90 days of its judgment.

    The judgment was on the petition filed by Sen. Smart Adeyemi, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 26 election.

    The INEC national commissioner was in Lokoja for a workshop on fake news organised for media executives, journalists and bloggers by the International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES) in collaboration with INEC.

    Haruna told the participants to be wary of fake news and its implications, saying that unverified news should not be allowed space.

    He also enjoined them to support INEC to institute credible electoral process in the country.

    On concern in some quarters on the possible manipulation of the card reading machine by unscrupulous politicians, the national commissioner dismissed it as “practically impossible’’.

    He also assured that the commission would allow a level playing ground for all candidates in the election, but appealed to them to play the game according to rules.

    The state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr Adeiza Jimoh, assured that journalists would be professional in the discharge of their duties before, during and after the election.

    He commended the IFES and INEC for organising the refresher for his members, saying that the workshop is timely.