The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has affirmed that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) indeed collapsed its party structure in Kogi State to support its gubernatorial candidate, Dino Melaye.
Despite denials from the ADC, the PDP insisted that videos provide irrefutable evidence that the Kogi ADC declared its readiness to back Dino for the forthcoming November 11 governorship election in the state.
Kola Ologbondiyan, a member of the PDP special national media/publicity committee (SNPC), reacted to ADC’s denial by sharing a video of the ADC party chieftains allegedly declaring their readiness to work toward Dino’s victory at the poll.
He maintained that the video is conclusive proof against the ADC’s shift.
The video in question depicts a gathering of ADC members, purportedly announcing their endorsement of Dino’s candidacy.
“Videos don’t lie. Here is the ADC chairman in Idah Local Government Area of Kogi State, Adejoh Haruna, handing over the party registers and membership cards to the candidate of the PDP, Senator Dino Melaye, in Lokoja, Kogi State,” said Ologbondiyan, who is the immediate past National Publicity Secretary of the PDP.
Videos Don’t Lie
Here is the ADC chairman in Idah Local Government Area of Kogi State, Adejoh Haruna, handing over the party registers and membership cards to the candidate of the PDP, Senator Dino Melaye, in Lokoja, Kogi State. pic.twitter.com/vOSPGOiwXb
— Kola Ologbondiyan (@officialKolaO) August 14, 2023
The controversy began when Dino, a former Kogi West Senator, declared over the weekend that the ADC had decided to dissolve its party structure in favour of supporting his candidacy.
Melaye’s claim was however met with skepticism, leading to a swift denial from the ADC on Monday.
The ADC accused Dino of falling victim to a scam and maintained that its party structure remained intact.
The ADC chairman in Kogi, Adaji John, reacted to the candidate’s claim in a statement.
“For a start, the name of the African Democratic Congress chairman for Idah council area is Adejo Ameadaji from Igalogba ward. Definitely, if it has been true that anybody visited or received Dino, it’s to scam him – and they succeeded,” Adaji said.
“This development is purely fake and a move to extort Dino. The face shown in the video is not an ADC party member; in fact, he is an Ibaji man to the best of our knowledge and not a member of our party.
“Those faceless persons led by the ghost Adejoh Haruna whom the camera intentionally didn’t capture, must have played on the low intelligence of Melaye or to pay him back in his own coins – because it is in the public domain that Melaye is a scammer and mentor of scammers. This is purely a case of ‘scamming the scammer’”.
John further described Dino as a “purveyor of falsehood,” adding “Unlike the governor who managed to back his kangaroo decamping stories with some pictures, Dino Melaye failed to show any – this is the new low of peddling fake news that the PDP candidate has been associated with for a long time, just to confuse the people of the state of phyric relevance.”
