4 aspirants not cleared, 2 step down as Dino Melaye emerges Kogi West PDP senatorial candidate unopposed
- Senator Dino Melaye has emerged the PDP senatorial candidate for Kogi West
- The controversial senator got the ticket unopposed after two other contenders stepped down for him
- He said the decision of the party to endorse him will act as a tonic for him to work more for the district
Senator Dino Melaye has been affirmed as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer for Kogi West senatorial district for the 2019 general elections.
The affirmation primary was conducted at the Prestige Hotel in Kabba, headquarters of the senatorial district, Daily Trust reports.
NAIJ.com gathers that the returning officer for the exercise, Jude Sule, said Melaye scored all the votes of the 800 plus delegates from the seven council areas that constitute the district.
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The exercise which was reportedly peaceful was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and some security personnel.
Meanwhile, the affirmation of Dino Melaye allegedly came with some intrigues and twists as four other contenders in the race were not cleared by the party screening committee while two others stepped down for him to emerge unopposed.
Those not cleared for the primary includes; Rep. Sunday Karimi; former acting governor of the state, Clarence Olafemi; Henry Ojuola and Ganiyu Salaudeen.
The aspirants who stepped down for Melaye were former commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Tolorunjuwon Faniyi and the current reps member representing Kabba/Bunu/ Ijumu Federal Constituency, Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf.
Reacting after the exercise, Melaye said the affirmation was “shocking but not surprising” bearing in mind that he has represented the district wonderfully at the upper chamber of the national assembly. He said the decision of the party to endorse him will act as a tonic for him to work more for the district when he eventually wins his second term bid.
He, however, appealed to all other aspirants who were aggrieved about his choice for the party to let go of their anger and join hands with him to rid the state and the country of the bad governance of APC, both at the state and national level.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that a youth group affiliated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called on the party’s national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, to stop what it called a ticking time bomb in the Kogi state chapter of the party.
The Peoples Democratic Party Youth Frontier on Tuesday, September 25, asked Secondus to look into the crisis plaguing the primary process in the Kogi East senatorial district of the state.
Austin Okai, the national coordinator of the group, in a statement, accused the committee sent to screen aspirants for the Kogi east senatorial district primary of disqualifying about 15 aspirants for the office just to pave the way for the incumbent, Senator Attai Aidoko, to emerge as the sole candidate.
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Source: Naija.ng