The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the just concluded governorship election in Kogi State, Dino Melaye, has reacted to reports that he was nowhere to be found in his polling unit during the election.
Melaye stated this on the Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, whence asked to confirm whether the reports were true.
The former Senator said casting his vote or otherwise is immaterial, maintaining that he was rigged out in the exercise.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came third with the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Usman Ododo winning the election.
Despite claims that Melaye did not even vote during the Saturday poll, the PDP flagbearer argued that it did not matter in the scheme of things.
“The issue of voting or not voting has no legal status. People win elections in prison. “Legally, it has no relevance to the election. Whether I voted or not, it is immaterial.”
Senator Melaye maintained: “I don’t want to talk about it” as he argued that there was no election in Kogi State on Saturday.
Senator Melaye also alleged that some unnamed political enemies met to decide “he must become a distant third” in the election.
“A meeting was held and they said, ‘Dino Melaye must not come second because if he comes second, it’s dangerous… so, he must become a distant third.’ There was no election; there was only allocation of votes,” he alleged.
Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) came second with 259,052 votes, while Melaye scored 46,362.
“Normally, Ajaka should not be excited that he won one, two, or three local governments in the East. It was allocated,” Melaye said.
According to the former lawmaker, the same thing happened in the February 25 presidential election.
“Lagos was given to Labour,” he said. “Labour should not think they won [in] Lagos; it was deliberate. The mathematics was done. The arithmetic was done.”
The Kogi PDP candidate argued further that the 2023 New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, was “given Kano, knowing fully well that other states had been padded.”
In Melaye’s view, this was the “exact same formula that was used in Kogi State”.
