A faction of the Kogi state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the return of Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West who recently announced his defection back to the Party.
The group under the aegis of Kogi West Elder’s Forum claimed that Melaye cannot be given automatic ticket to recontest for the Kogi West senatorial seat.
They accused the senator of being too controversial for the party and claimed he has lost his popularity among the masses and so cannot win any election.
The group chairman, Hon. Shaibu Momoh, made this known at a press meeting in Lokoja over the weekend.
He said: “That the news of an attempt to impose the controversial Senator Dino Melaiye on the peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Kogi West, by the National Leadership of the party, as Automatic Senatorial candidate for the 2019 National Assembly election is hereby Rejected in it totality and unacceptable.
“PDP Leadership in kogi West endorsed by the state Leadership was the first Party to take a firm decision to shift/zone the position to other Federal constituency of the state for equity and justice, since over a year now.
“Known aspirants have emerge from other areas excluding Ijumu in PDP and they have being on the field carrying out their consultations and preparing their structures in preparation for the party Senatorial primaries expending huge amount of resources and time for the past 12 months.
“To now impose a strange candidate under a questionable reasons will not only be wrong, unjust and unfair but it will totally collapse all efforts by our highly respected leaders at rebuilding and rebranding the party in the state there by giving an opportunity and undue advantage to the opposition party APC that is in government to contend with.”
Momoh added that Melaye was not an asset to PDP but rather, he would cause discord in the party which has been through personal crisis in the past.
“The result of his recall failure by government backed agitators are not because of his political strength but rather it is the reflection of the wider rejection by the people of the sitting APC government, their policies, unpaid salaries, pensions and gratuities and ethnic coloration rather than the love for senator Melaiye, infact many people despite Dino’s rough behavior and they will not want him back.
“He is seen as too controversial and his unacceptable behaviors are the serious negative views of the public against him.
“He can not win any election in a free and fair atmosphere and PDP should therefore not gamble with him as a candidate for now. “He needs a serious reformation period which PDP Kogi state do not have the luxury of time to dispense.”
He, however, added that Melaye would be accepted to the party as long as he did not come looking for any preferential treatment and accepted to work for the good of the party.
“The leadership of PDP in the state under the apex leadership of two former governors of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, Captain Idris Wada, senator Tunde Ogbeha Alhaji Musa Ahmadu and host of other critical stakeholders have been struggling to rebrand a PDP that can recapture power from an aggressive none performing government of APC in the state. “They have reconcile several prominent strong men and women who came back to the party and their re-entrance back to PDP is without any condition or concession but genuine.
“Some restructuring on House of Representatives, Governorship and state Houses of Assembly are on-going and imposition of a Senatorial candidate will cause a major derailment and unimaginable crises that PDP may not be able to overcome before the general election,” he said.
