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Tag: Melaye

  • Melaye in eye of storm

    Melaye in eye of storm

    The recall initiated against Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) is gathering momentum. Correspondent James Azania examines the issues that have continued to fuel division in the Kogi State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    It began as an anti-Senator Dino Melaye protest in Kabba, headquarters of Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State in June. Today, it has graduated into the recall of the embattled Melaye. It is the culmination of the rift between the senator and Governor Yahaya Bello.

    On June 2, scores of All Progressives Congress (APC) members and other partisan residents of Kabba, converged at the party headquarters along Aiyetoro Road, chanting anti Melaye songs.

    Later, they drove in convoy to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Lokoja, to initiate the recall of Senator Melaye, which the electoral body has set for itself July, 3 to commence with the process, having received “188,580” signatories.

    They listed 18 allegations against Melaye.

    One of the arrowheads of the pro-Melaye recall groups, Pius Kolawole, said: “Senator Dino Melaye’s recall is not only long overdue, but the right thing to do in the best interests of Kogi West Senatorial zone, Kogi State, Nigeria, and in fact the institution and dignity of the distinguished Senate of the Federal Republic”.

    Melaye is accused of “Not deeming it “fit to have a Constituency Office in Kogi West Senatorial Zone, even after two years in the Senate. He has no projects initiated in the constituency after two years in the Senate. He is known for a continuous flow of irresponsible utterances which embarrass the constituency.

    Despite the cordial relations between the governor and Melaye, problem started when the governors thought the senator wanted to control the party and the government.

    The circumstances that brought Bello to power, aside playing a pivotal role in elevating Melaye in the scheme of things, made it expedient for the governor to curry political friendship wherever it could be found, if only to stabilise the administration.

    The sudden death of Prince Abubakar Audu, the APC governorship candidate, on November 22, 2015 opened the floodgate of crisis in Kogi; for while the Audu camp  insisted that his running mate, Chief James Faleke, should inherit the ticket, the INEC and the APC national leadership had other ideas, which eventually prevailed.

    Following Governor Bello’s inauguration at the Confluence Stadium Lokoja, where Melaye proclaimed him as God-elected, the lawmaker nominated the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs Folasade Ayoade Arike.

    The governor and Melaye parted ways, owing to the alleged overbearing tendencies of Melaye. The senator wanted his loyalists to be appointed as chairmen and councillors into the seven local government areas in Kogi West.

    Bello resisted the move. Later, APC stakeholders’ passed a vote of no confidence on the governor over sundry allegations.

    In a letter by members of the Kogi APC state executive council on April 12, last year, to the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun , Bello was accused of side-lining party members and hobnobbing with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and giving appointments to the opposition.

    Bello fought back. The governor’s media aide, Kingsle Fanwo, said Melaye started attacking his principal the moment he lost out in his scheme to produce all the local government administrators from Kogi West. He said: “It is laughable when someone who has been given the opportunity to produce the SSG is still demanding for other positions as if he is the only member in the party. The same stakeholders have earlier claimed that they don’t recognise the Yahaya Bello-led administration. We wonder why such people are busy in Abuja crying foul over the lauded appointments made so far by the governor”.

    When Melaye was attacked in Aiyetoro-Gbede, his home town, he pointed fingers at the Ijumu council Administrator, Alhaji Taufiq Isa, who he alleged was working at the behest of Governor Bello.

    Isa, who doubles as the chairman of the Association of Local Government (ALGON) in Kogi, and five others, are standing trial before the Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja, for the assassination attempt on Senator Melaye.

    During the anti-Melate rally, violence broke out and lives was lost.

    Cross accusations were to follow, with the governor blaming the deaths on the senator, adding he had written to the Inspector General of Police over alleged plans by the latter to use hired thugs and cultists to unleash mayhem on the state.

    He said: “I have written petition and received reports that the president has ordered the IGP to investigate. but, up till now, nothing has happened. The petition was to the extent that the senator was planning to cause mayhem and violence in Kogi State to rubbish the administration of the president and my government and paint a picture that Nigeria is ungovernable. Today, because Dino has nobody to collaborate as such, he has decided himself to come and cause mayhem. as I speak, we have a lifeless body lying in the hospital. Immediately I got wind of the rally I called the commissioner of police and the director of SSS if they granted permission to the senator to hold the rally and they said no. That means somebody that is supposed to make law has taken law into his hands and a life is already lost with properties destroyed.”

    Melaye accused Bello of masterminding the violence. He added that it was the second assassination attempt on his life “orchestrated by Bello”.

    The recall started a fortnight ago with the collection of signatures and photostat copies of voter cards of constituents across the seven local governments of Kogi West.

    Melaye described it as a charade being bankrolled by the government.

    A group, the Coalition of Enlightened Voters, dissociated the people of the constituency from the recall process.

    The group, in a statement titled: “Yagba People not Part of Senator Dino Melaiye Recall Farce”, signed by Kehinde Abayomi (Yagba East), Temitope Olajide (Yagba West) and Adebayo Michael (Mopa-Muro).

    The group said: “We note that the comedy falls short of the expectations of the drafters of the relevant law on the recall of a parliamentarian. It is not in our character as Yagba people to orchestrate the recall ofelected representatives, especially when such a project is not founded on proven allegations of misrepresentation or non-performance.

    “Our findings showed that the recall process did not emanate from the electorate, but is a sponsored enterprise based on political malice, initiated by interests outside Kogi West Senatorial district and anchored by state and local government appointees. To make things worse, through inducement involving cash and materials, gullible electorate were lured into the submission of their Permanent Voters’ Cards, after being deceived that the collection of the cards was for the purpose of population census.”

    Melaye, alleged that N1.4 billion was earmarked by the state government, for his recall “project”, an allegation the government says is spurious.

    While the lawmaker alleges that Governor Bello is bankrolling efforts to recall him from the Senate, with the release of N200 million to each of the seven local government areas in the district, the government in a reaction denied the allegation, describing it as spurious.

    Melaye said that the threat to recall him remains a huge joke.

    He said 30 members of the APC, who refused to collect the money and append their signature on the recall form being distributed “by the Kogi State government have been arrested by the police”.

    He said: “Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, has released N200 million to each of the seven LGAs in my Senatorial district to facilitate my recall from the Senate. The money has been released but they are facing resistance in all the polling units, as people refused to sign for the recall form. But he is a joker, my achievements speak for me. So far, about 30 persons, including the Ward/Unit chairman in Ife/Olukotun, Mosunmola Shittu, have been arrested and taken to the police station on the orders of the Kogi State government. Everywhere they go, they are facing resistance and have not been able to get signatures because the people are resisting them.”

    The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Petra Akinti Onyegbule in a terse response said: “It is a spurious allegation.”

    One of the Kabba chiefs, Ayodele Olukore Okono, expressed their support for Senator Melaye, saying, “We are all supporting him. Nobody can remove Dino. He is working for us seriously in Kogi West. All they are doing is under government house directive and they have already met with their Waterloo, because they will serious resistance in Kabba”.

    Melaye has meanwhile filed a lawsuit at the Federal high Court in Abuja seeking court injunction to halt his recall from the Senate. He is seeking an injunction to halt INEC, in response to the submission of the 188,580 signatures last Wednesday from his constituents.

    Last Thursday INEC issued a statement notifying the public that it will be verifying the signatures on July 3, 2017. The commission it was gathered also wrote to Melaye notifying him of the official commencement of the recall exercise.

    Melaye’s lawyers filed a 33-page legal argument seeking to obtain injunctive reliefs from the court. The application was accompanied by an affidavit of urgency filed by a staff from the chambers of Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN).

    Notwithstanding the seeming seriousness of what appears to be staring him straight in the face, Melaye in his characteristic manner has said that “many will go to jail for my recall”, even as the process gathers more momentum. But, whether or not some will find themselves in the enterprise to oust him from the Senate, or if it is he that fate has it to bite the dust, time alone will tell in the battle of political supremacy, between Governor Bello and Senator Melaye.

  • ‘We’ve had enough of Melaye’

    ‘We’ve had enough of Melaye’

    Reactions have continued to trail the purported endorsement of Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) by some political heavyweights and opinion moulders from Okun land.

    A group from the area, the Aggrieved Kogi West Constituents, maintained that the only umbrella body recognised by them remains the Okun Development Association (ODA).

    The group, at a news conference yesterday, denounced the purported endorsement, saying they would not have their names dragged into the murky waters.

    According to them, what is happening to Senator Melaye is self-inflicted, and he should not drag anyone along.

    Olowo Cornelius, who spoke on behalf of the group, said Melaye’s recall was initiated and pursued by constituents of Kogi West.

    His words: “The Okun Development Initiative is strange and unknown as an association in Okun land. We are aware of the counter publication, by some of Okun leaders, to the fact that they were unaware and were never contacted, nor did they make any statement on Melaye’s recall.

    “This recall was entirely initiated, and is being pursued by constituents of Kogi West, haven had enough of Melaye’s unbearable utterances, conducts and misbehaviour, both in and out of the National Assembly, coupled with his total disconnection from the people he claims to represent.

    “It is, therefore, a deliberate falsehood for anyone to allege that the initiators and instigators of the recall are not from Kogi West.

    “What is happening to Senator Melaye is a self-inflicted problem, which he has to tackle alone. Some of the elders erroneously mentioned as defending him were victims of his inglorious activities. It is, therefore, sinful for anyone, for any reason, to attempt to drag the respected Okun elders into controversies of fruitless efforts targeted at discarding a constitutional process of recalling a non-person representative.”

  • Melaye jumps the gun

    It is interesting that Senator Dino Melaye seems to be in a hurry to end the process for his recall in his favour without appreciating that it has just started and it is still unfolding.

    Since there is a lawful process for recalling a senator, it makes sense to allow the process to take its course, meaning it makes no sense to try to end the process before it ends.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in a statement signed by Mallam Mohammed Haruna, a National Commissioner and member, Information and Voter Education Committee,  said the body met and  “considered the petition submitted by some registered voters from Kogi West Senatorial District to kick-start the process of recalling Senator Dino Melaye.”

    The statement further said: “In accordance with the INEC guidelines for the recall of members of the National Assembly, the Commission has formally acknowledged the reciept of the petition to the petitioners’ representatives and has conveyed a letter notifying Senator Melaye of our reciept of the petition. The next step is to verify that the petitioners are registered voters in the Kogi West Senatorial District. INEC will on the 3rd of July, 2017, issue a public notice stating the day (s), time, location and other details for the verification exercise.”

    Two days after, Senator Melaye jumped the gun by alleging that there were forged signatures in the petition against him. But isn’t the scheduled “verification exercise” supposed to determine whether the signatures are real or unreal?  Shouldn’t INEC be allowed to do its work?

    According to a report, Senator Melaye, “speaking through one of his legislative aides, Malam Abubakar Sadiq,” said: “Let me also say authoritatively that here in Lokoja Local Government Council, several others whose names and signatures appeared on the list of the signatories to this failed exercise were identified and known to us as being dead long before now. Such people like late Abdullahi Abubakar, his immediate younger sister late Halima Lawal Abubakar and Ibrahim Adama of Unit Code 021, Adankolo Ring Road in Ward ‘A’, Lokoja Local Government Council.”

    It is predictable that Senator Melaye would want the recall process to fail, but it is surely premature to call it a “failed exercise.”  Whether his forgery claims are correct or incorrect, whether the petitioners are verifiable or unverifiable, there is a time to prove or disprove, and there is a lawful body in charge of verification.

    By jumping the gun, Senator Melaye demonstrated uneasiness and unreasonableness.

  • Why Bello is fighting me, by Melaye

    Why Bello is fighting me, by Melaye

    Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) has said Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello is fighting him because he is requesting him to do the needful in the state.

    Melaye spoke in Ughelli, Ughelli North council of Delta State, during an empowerment exercise organised by the lawmaker representing Ughelli North, South and Udu Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Solomon Awhinawhi.

    He described Bello’s anger towards him as “baseless”.

    Melaye said: “I am not just a Senator, l also ensure that in anything I do, justice prevail. Because I asked Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, to pay workers’ salaries, pensioners, open higher institution of learning shut for five months, and see to the demands of doctors, I have done wrong.

    “I also requested him to give the people dividends of democracy, and that is the only reason he is fighting me. Well, he is not fighting me, but God because what I am fighting for is just and true. And in an unjust society, silence is a crime.

    “Empowerment is not just a natural, but a spiritual thing, because the Holy Book says once you have done this to your people, you have done it to God. The empowerment you have done is a celestial thing on earth, and there are always abundant blessings that follow it.”

    The senator, who lauded Awhinawhi for his effort, said there are two sets of politicians – those who practice democracy of dividends, which is defined as government of the people, by the people and for the people – where Awhinawhi belongs to; and the second are those who practice democracy of greed, which could also be described as a government of greed, by the greedy and for the greedy.

  • Melaye on the threshold of negative history

    THE first election that took him to the National Assembly was violent, hence his time in the hallowed chambers has been rancorous. But all that appears set to come to an inglorious end if current signals from his Kogi West constituency are anything to go by. Adamu Yusuf, the returning officer in the votes that have just been cast for the recall of Senator Dino Melaye, announced at the state secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lokoja during the week that a total of 188,588 signatures, representing 52.3 per cent of the 360,098 eligible voters in the senatorial district, had been secured for the senator to step down. If the dream of his aggrieved constituents becomes a reality, Melaye’s recall from the National Assembly would be the consequence of the frustrations of a people that place premium on decorum.

    Senator Melaye came into national consciousness in 2011 as a member of the House of Representatives after an election that was essentially a civil war. In a magical transition, an exercise that began on a peaceful note was hijacked by gun-trotting thugs who shot sporadically and left voters scampering into the inner recesses of their homes.

    They peeped through their window curtains as the dare-devil hoodlums made a show of scaring electoral officials away and snatching ballot boxes. Based, perhaps, on the manner he won the election that took him to the National Assembly for the first time, he turned the hallowed chambers into a boxing ring. To the embarrassment of his peace-loving constituents, he threw blows at other members of the House at the slightest provocation. Sick of his aggressive instincts, his party at the time, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), decided to deny him the ticket for another shot at the seat. Fate, however, offered him a lifeline with the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose senatorial ticket was lying in the gutter in spite of the new party’s popularity.

    Melaye shed the toga of the PDP and donned the garb of the APC, becoming the senatorial candidate of the wave-making party. With only a feeble resistance from the candidates of other political parties in his Kogi West Senatorial District, Melaye coasted home to victory and graduated from the Green Chamber to the Red Chamber. At the Senate, his aggressive disposition took a turn for the worse as he promptly turned himself into the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki’s attack dog. He had joined others in helping Saraki to plot his way to the Senate President’s seat against the wish of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC. Thereafter, he became the face of Saraki’s confrontation with the Presidency such that when Saraki became a regular visitor to the courts on account of the corruption charges preferred against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau, Melaye abandoned his responsibilities to the people of Kogi West to begin a career as Saraki’s unofficial bodyguard.

    He capped all that with his attack on Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of frontline APC chieftain, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, against who he deployed unprintable words widely condemned as unbecoming of a senator. If all good things must end, all bad things must, hence the resolve of Melaye’s constituents to recall him from the Upper Chamber.s In his characteristic manner, Melaye has laughed off the effort of his constituents as a comedy of error. His confidence is probably based on the tortuous steps they must endure to bring their dream of recalling him to reality.

    The collection of the signatures of more than 50 per cent of the eligible voters in the constituency is only one in the long list of conditions the law says they must fulfil before they can recall Melaye. Apart from more than half of the registered voters in the senatorial district writing, signing and sending a petition to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), indicating their loss of confidence in Melaye, the petition must be signed and arranged, according to the polling units, wards, local government areas and constituencies in the senatorial district. INEC must also notify the senator of its receipt of a petition for his recall. Besides, there would be a public notice issued by INEC, stating the date, time and location for verification of the signatures to the petition to ensure that they belong to individuals whose names are on the senatorial district’s voter register.

    INEC will then conduct a referendum in which more than half of verified voters in the constituency must vote ‘yes’ for the Melaye’s recall, otherwise, the petition will be thrown away like the army did June 12. If the majority of the registered voters vote ‘yes’, the Chairman of INEC will send a certificate of recall to the Senate President for him to effect the recall of the senator. Still, the electorate in Kogi West are not about to give up in their aspiration to make history as the first set of Nigerians to exploit the latent provision of the constitution that makes it possible for a people to recall their representative from the National Assembly whom they deem not to have lived up to their expectations. In a press statement released on Thursday, INEC acknowledged receipt of the recall petition against Melaye.

    It also announced that it would begin the process of recalling him after verifying that the petitioners were registered to vote in Kogi West Senatorial District. The electoral body also set July 3, 2017 as the date for the verification exercise. The sun seems to be going down for Senator Melaye, but the question remains whether Saraki, the man for whom he has spent his time in the Senate fetching and carrying, would be eager to endorse a resolution asking Melaye to quit the upper chamber. The just and worthwhile effort to recall Senator Melaye could end up an anti-climax. It could set another stage for a remix of Ajekun Iya, his single that has ruled the airwaves after his confrontation with Sahara Reporters. Still, his constituents will be proud to make history as the first set of electorate in the nation’s political history to invoke the latent recall clause in the nation’s electoral laws.

  • Melaye asks court to restrain INEC from proceeding with his recall process

    Melaye asks court to restrain INEC from proceeding with his recall process

    SENATOR Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from proceeding with the process to recall him. Melaye’s request is contained in a suit he filed in Abuja yesterday through his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN).

    INEC had on Wednesday, informed Melaye of its receipt of a petition for his recall from members of his constituency and fixed July 3 to begin the recall process. In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/587/2017, with INEC as the only defendant, Melaye faulted the process to recall him, arguing that it was tainted by political malice and initiated by his political enemies. He denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he was being targeted for standing up for the oppressed in Kogi State and the many workers who have not been paid their salaries by the state government.

    The Senator is praying the court to declare the petition submitted to the chairman of INEC, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, as “illegal, unlawful, wrongful, unconstitutional, invalid, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.” He also wants the court to void the recall process on the grounds that it was commenced in breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing. Melaye, in a supporting affidavit said: “That in the last National Assembly election conducted in March 2015, the total numbers of votes cast in both valid and invalid votes was about 115, 000 out of the total registered voters.

    “That the numbers of signatories on the petition purportedly submitted to INEC far exceed the total number of both valid and invalid votes cast at the last general election. ‘ “That he knows as a matter of fact that this raises serious doubt as to the authenticity of the entire process and the alleged petition itself. “That except by physical verification of all the signatures, the defendant cannot determine the authenticity of the alleged signatures in the purported petition. “That he knows as a matter of fact that the purported petition asking for his recall was politically sponsored and without any basis whatsoever.

    “That he was reliably informed by one T Ayeni, that the recall form with a copy of INEC Register was given to him to transfer some of the names in the INEC register to the recall sheet and forge the signatures therein ‘ “That they also gave him some money and that the form and money were given to him by the ward Chairman, Ayiyetoro Gbede Ward in Ijumu Local Government Arae of Kogi State. “That he knows as a matter of fact, that the alleged process of his recall was initiated in utter disregard to his right to the twin pillars of natural justice and fair hearing as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “That he knows that he has not done anything wrong to warrant his purported recall or the alleged loss of confidence in him by the alleged constituents.

    “That in 2015, he was voted the best Senator in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” His prayers read, “A declaration that the petition presented to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission for the recall of the plaintiff, is illegal, unlawful, wrongful, unconstitutional, invalid, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

    “A declaration that the recall process purportedly initiated against the Plaintiff by his constituents under section 69 of the Constitution as altered, is illegal, unlawful, wrongful unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatsoever same having been commenced and conducted in utter disregard to the hallowed principles of natural justice and in volcanic violation of the plaintiff’s right to fair hearing, as provided for in section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as altered.

    “A declaration that the recall process purportedly initiated by the constituents of the Plaintiff herein is tainted with bad faith, political malice and personal vendetta, and consequently cannot amount to such reasons and factors as are envisaged by the provisions of sections 68 8: 69 of the Constitution in the recall process commenced against the Plaintiff. “A declaration that the petition purportedly forwarded to the office of the Defendant is invalid, null, void and of no effect whatsoever, the same having been signed by fictitious, dead, and none existing persons in the plaintiff’s Senatorial District.

    “An order of injunction restraining the defendant, whether, by itself, staff, employees, agents, servants and or privies howsoever called, from commencing or further continuing or completing the process of recall of the plaintiff. “An order of injunction restraining the Defendant whether by itself, staff, employees, agents, servants and or privies howsoever called, from commencing or further continuing with the process of acting on the purported petition presented to it by the constituents of against the Plaintiff. “An order of injunction restraining the Defendant from conducting any referendum predicated on the fictitious petition allegedly submitted to it by the purported constituents of the plaintiff, on the basis of the fundamentally and legally flawed petition.”

  • Melaye: N1.4b earmarked for my recall project

    Melaye: N1.4b earmarked for my recall project

    •Allegation spurious, says Kogi govt

    Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) has accused Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello of sponsoring efforts to recall him from the Senate, with the release of N200 million to each of the seven local governments in the district.

    Melaye, who addressed his supporters at his constituency office in Kabba yesterday, said the threat to recall him remains a joke.

    According to him, 30 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who refused to collect the money and append their signature on the recall form distributed “by the Kogi State government, have been arrested by the police”.

    He said: “Quote me, Governor Yahaya Bello has released N200 million to each of the seven councils in my Senatorial district to facilitate my recall from the Senate.

    “The money has been released but they are facing resistance in all the polling units, as people refused to sign the recall form. But he is a joker, my achievements speak for me.

    “So far, about 30 persons, including the Ward/Unit chairman in Ife/Olukotun, Mosunmola Shittu, have been arrested on the government’s orders. Everywhere they go, they are facing resistance and have not been able to get signatures because the people are resisting them.”

    A Kabba chief, Ayodele Olukore, expressed their support for Senator Melaye, saying: “We are all supporting him. Nobody can remove Dino.

    “He is working for us seriously in Kogi West. All they are doing is under government house directive, and they have already met their waterloo.”

    Efforts to speak with the police spokesman, William Ayah, over the alleged arrests were unsuccessful.

    However, a senior officer, who pleaded for anonymity, said some arrests were made, but for public disturbance.

    But the state government has refuted the allegations, describing it as “spurious”.

    Governor Bello’s chief press secretary, Petra Akinti Onyegbule, in a statement, said: “It is a spurious allegation”.

  • Constituents mobilise to recall Melaye

    Constituents mobilise to recall Melaye

    The process to recall Kogi West Senator Dino Melaye gathered momentum at the weekend with mobilisation of prospective signatories.

    Our correspondent gathered authoritatively leaders across the seven local governments in the senatorial district met in Lokoja on Friday night to strategise on the ‘Dino Recall Project’.

    It was learnt registered voters, their card numbers and column for expected signatures among others were distributed at the clandestine meeting.

    Before the meeting, a massive protest for the recall of Melaye held in Kabba, headquarters of Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and others chanting anti- Melaye songs.

    The protesters, including party leaders, market men and women and restive youth gathered at the nearby Kabba Township Stadium from where they afterwards proceeded to the INEC office, Lokoja, to initiate the recall process.

    They listed 18 alleged offences against the senator.

    One of the leaders of the recall groups, Pius Kolawole said: “We hereby give the Kogi State Government notice that we are going through with this and if they will not help us, they must also not try to stop us or put obstacles in our way.

    “Everything the law requires to be done by the administration in Lokoja in aid of this process must be done with dispatch”.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

    Legal Adviser in Kogi State, Muktar Bawa, told the protesters there were laid conditions and procedures to begin the process of recall.

    He advised them to go back and get the endorsements of constituents across polling units in the district and present their petitions to INEC to see if they met the conditions required for a recall.

    One of the ward leaders from Lokoja LG, Hon.Ilujunka David, said there was no going back.

    According to him:”Of course, we are recalling him. We have started sensitising because the electorate cannot have a representative that is far detached from them”.

    Hon. Yomi Edward said: “We have already collected the materials. The summary of our grouse is he is misleading the purpose and trust of our votes given him by the electorate.”

    Reacting in a series of tweets, Melaye accused Governor Yahaya Bello of budgeting N1billion for what he dismissed as an exercise in futility.

    According to him: “Yahaya Bello: on recall of Dino Melaye, he is shooting the Moon and boxing the air.

    “Spending over N1 billion tax payers money on an unproductive venture when salaries and pensions have not been paid is wicked.

    “I will continue to defend the poor and defenseless masses of Kogi state. If I die I die. We must rescue the state.”

  • Kogi West poll: Senator demands probe of judge, Melaye

    Kogi West poll: Senator demands probe of judge, Melaye

    Senator Smart Adeyemi, who represented Kogi West for two terms, yesterday demanded a probe of the alleged telephone conversation between Justice Akon Ikpeme and Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) – his successor.

    Adeyemi said he sensed a foul play in the way his election petition was struck out by Justice Ikpeme-led Election Petition Tribunal.

    Adeyemi, who made the demands at a briefing in Abuja, pleaded with the Chief Justice of the Federation and the National Judicial Council (NJC) to probe the alleged audio tape of the conversation.

    He said: “I hereby call for a thorough investigation by the appropriate authorities – that is, the Chief Justice of the Federation, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, the National Judicial Council( NJC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Commission( ICPC) and the Directorate for State Security Service( DSS).

    “Like I mentioned earlier, I am of the opinion that we have people of high integrity in the Judiciary. However, just like there is a Judas in every 12, some people of questionable character may want to infiltrate the ranks of our incorruptible judges and ministers in the hallowed temple of Justice.

    “I hold the view that members of the Justice Akon Ikpeme-led panel have the burden to come out and prove their innocence to the world, especially as touching on the recent leaked telephone conversation between Justice Ikpeme and a litigant in her tribunal in the person of Dino Melaye. Nigerians are watching and waiting.”

    He added: “I am not in doubt that money and other extraneous unethical considerations played an active role in the various rulings of the Justice Ikpeme-led panel in favour of Dino Melaye. If my brother Dino denies the audio clip, let him look at the mirror before him, the person will appear. For two years, I kept praying to God to make a show of shame of all conspirators against me at the tribunal. By the power of God, more revelations will still come!”

    Adeyemi said he was demanding for the probe to avert a recurrence of abuse of the judicial process in the future.

    He added: “Whether the audio recording was genuine or not.  Let the communication firms be involved to track this conversation. We need forensic experts to get to the roots of this alleged bribe saga.

    “For two years, I kept mute because I had no evidence to prove but I know God will intervene and expose those behind the electoral fraud in Kogi West Senatorial District. The release of the audio clip has shown that a lot went wrong.

    “The redress is to make sure that tomorrow nobody will be thinking of bribing a judge. It is not about winning this case; it is about helping Nigerian judiciary. If this thing can happen to me as a senator, what is the hope for the common man.”

    Asked if the judiciary decided not to probe the audio tape, Adeyemi said: “I have the assurance of God that we have not heard the last word. I know there will be more revelations.

    “You don’t have to be a judge to know that the results have been tampered. Can any judge accept mutilated results? I swallowed the bitter.

    “Though, we know that there is an end to litigation and this particular petition has been decided one way or the other yet, the following are pertinent factual and moral records of what transpired at the tribunal, which are now questions for Justice Ikpeme and her team to answer, in order to erase the misconception (if any) of corruption, which hovers around them and to save the image and integrity of the judiciary.

    “The tribunal ordered a recount of the ballot papers and it was discovered that 2500 void votes were counted for Dino Melaye to be declared winner of the election. Why was no action taken on this finding?

    “That there were mutilation /cancellation on the faces of all the results sheets delivered by INEC.

    “That there are many wards of the senatorial district, whose results the INEC officials deliberately refused to collate and enter on the final result sheet. These wards are spread across the four local government areas of Kabba-Bunu Local Government, Ijumu Local Government, Kogi Local Government and Lokoja Local Government.

    “That the Justice Ikpeme-led panel accepted a sheet of paper, as report of primaries in the face of an authentic report of primaries brought and tendered during the hearing of the petition by INEC officials.

    “That Justice Ikpeme gave probative value to a sheet of paper as reports of primaries tendered by a youth corps member allegedly coming from INEC office Abuja without an identity card.”

    But Melaye had also said he won his election in a free and fair manner and will defeat Adeyemi any day.

    He said: “This is not a matter of boast, I have defeated him and I will also defeat him, even if election is conducted 100 times, provided the election is free and fair.”

    One of Melaye’s ardent supporters said Adeyemi was chasing shadows.

    He said: “Adeyemi lost to Melaye because he failed to follow due process in pursuing his petition.

    “Justice Ikpeme said Adeyemi ran foul of the Electoral Act in filing reply to the 1st respondent’s response out of time

    “Ikpeme also held that for failing to apply for Form TF001 for pre-hearing session within the stipulated seven days, the tribunal was of the view that the petitioner had failed to apply for the issuance of the form.

    “She said pursuance of other issues relating to Adeyemi’s  petition could only amount to ‘mere academic exercise’.”

  • Melaye embarrassing us, says kinsmen

    Melaye embarrassing us, says kinsmen

    The Okun Progressive Alliance has said that Senator Dino Melaye is disgracing the people of Okun in Kogi State with his antics and behaviour in the National Assembly.

    The group said Melaye, who represents Kogi West, has brought collateral damage to Okunland through his “terrible display of middle age delinquency,” in the Senate.

    The group spoke in a statement by its President and Secretary-General, Ben Alege and Adeniyi Oloruntoba, yesterday.

    They urged Nigerians not to judge them by the behaviour and antics of the senator, and accused the senator and other politicians who rode to power through President Muhammadu Buhari’s change mantra of becoming the biggest obstacles to genuine change in Nigeria.

    “Indeed, it is appalling enough that many have refused to see how so many clowns, charlatans and people of questionable character rode on the back of Muhammadu Buhari and the sing-song of “Change” to get into positions where they now remain the biggest, perfidious obstacles to genuine change in Nigeria.

    “Painfully, this ‘distinguished’ beneficiary of this “wholesales gift” has now brought collateral damage to Okunland, Kogi State and Nigeria,” the statement said.

    According to the group, Nigeria’s democracy is suffering from quality representation, adding that it is the responsibility of all constituents to ensure an improvement in coming elections.

    “True, Nigeria’s democracy is suffering in terms of the quality of representation and it is the responsibility of all constituents to ensure an improvement in coming elections. For us in Okunland, we are victims of this grave error. As a people, we are consoled by the fact that an opportunity to right the wrong is coming.

    “His aggressive and needlessly combative disposition towards our state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, his council chairman and even, the ‘change’ that his party promises – is beyond description.

    “In due course, such hubris and childish jaunts against the governor, our dear council chairman and we, the people he claims to represent shall be duly rewarded.

    “At the moment, we hereby appeal to Nigerians and more importantly mass media organizations not to judge the good people of Okunland by his antics and theatrics,” the statement added