Dino, Smart at ‘war’ again for soul of Kogi West Senatorial District
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on October 11 ordered the removal of Dino Melaye as the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District. The three-man panel led by Justice Abubakar Yahaya ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election for the senatorial district within 90 days. The panel upheld the two-to-one […]
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on October 11 ordered the removal of Dino Melaye as the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District.
The three-man panel led by Justice Abubakar Yahaya ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election for the senatorial district within 90 days.
The panel upheld the two-to-one majority judgment of the three-man Kogi State, National/State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal delivered on August 23, 2019.
The majority decision of the tribunal had upheld the petition filed by Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging Melaye’s victory in the March 23, 2019 poll.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that embattled Senator Melaye of the PDP had polled a total of 85,395 votes to defeat his main challenger, Smart Adeyemi of the APC who scored 66,902 votes before the Tribunal upturned his victory.
Melaye, not satisfied with the ruling of the Tribunal, however, filed an appeal at the Abuja Division of the Appeal Court.
The PDP and INEC had also filed separate appeals against the tribunal’s verdict.
The Court of Appeal in its judgement, however, dismissed all three appeals and upheld the tribunal’s judgment.
The court’s decision was based primarily on the contradiction in the date the results of the election were declared and the date on the result sheets.
Reacting to this development, Senator Dino Melaye took to social media to urge his supporters to stay calm.
He wrote: “I just lost my election at the Appeal Court and fresh election ordered. In all things, I give God Praise. He who started a good thing and will complete it. I ask my supporters to be law-abiding as we shall always overcome. To God be the Glory.”
Following the court judgment, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) subsequently fixed November 16 for the rerun election.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mr Festus Okoye said that the commission fixed the date after its management meeting which considered the time table and date of the poll.
With the foregoing, Senator Dino Melaye and his main challenger, Senator Smart Adeyemi, are back to the trenches over the soul of Kogi West Senatorial seat. The duo both hail from Ijumu Local Government Area of the state.
While Melaye is from Aiyetoro Gbede axis of Ijumu, Adeyemi is from Iyara axis of the same local government, thus, making the election a contest between two brothers who are “political foes.”
Kogi West Senatorial District comprises seven local government areas namely, Kabba-Bunu, Ijumu, Mopa-Muro, Yagba West, Yagba East, Lokoja and Kogi (Kotonkarfe). The District has a total number of 432,515 registered voters.
The stakes in the senatorial rerun election appear to be very high and the two major political parties and gladiators are not leaving things to chances.
Melaye and his party, the PDP have been urging the people of the senatorial district to come out en masse without any fear and vote him again in the rerun election to enjoy better representation and more of the constituency projects he had attracted to them in the past.
The PDP says Melaye remains “the only voice for the voiceless”, who also “speaks truth to power” and therefore urged the people of Kogi West to resist any move to silence him.
Melaye said he had always defeated Smart Adeyemi in previous contests and that he has no doubt about emerging victorious in the rerun poll given the kind of supports and love he currently enjoys from the people. He described himself as “light” that overshadows “darkness,” urging the people to reject both Bello and Adeyemi at the poll.
But Senator Adeyemi has called on the electorate in Kogi West to vote him to enable him to redeem the “battered image” of the district.
Adeyemi, who spoke at Kabba during his campaign flag-off, urged the people not to elect “misfits and people of questionable background into power.”
He said “politics is a serious business that must not be left in the hands of charlatans and street fighters” stressing that the people can no longer afford to submit their collective destiny to a “trouble maker.”
He begged for forgiveness from those who may have taken offence to his position in the past, adding he has also forgiven those who offended him likewise.
Adeyemi, however, urged the people of the senatorial district to defend their votes from all forms of manipulation.
While enumerating his achievements as a two-term senator, he said if given the chance, he would do more to eradicate poverty and attract more development to his senatorial district.
In the same vein, Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has urged the people of Kogi West to let their support for APC translate into massive votes for the party and Senator Adeyemi on November 16.
Bello who spoke during the APC’s campaign at Isanlu, headquarters of Yagba East LGA said, “Don’t throw away your votes, give the votes to Adeyemi; he will represent you at the senate effectively. If you love me and will cast your vote for me, do the same for Adeyemi.”
As it stands, the rerun election is no doubt going to be a keen contest between two brothers and until the final vote is counted, who will emerge winner is too close to call.