Essential Ndubuisi
A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant in the upcoming Kogi State gubernatorial primary, Senator Dino Melaye, has fired back at Rivers state Governor, Nyesom Wike, for discrediting his ambition. Melaye, who is a former senator, claimed that he is more qualified to be governor than Wike based on his pedigree in politics.
The PDP chieftain also played down the support of Wike, stating how he failed to support PDP’s Ademola Adeleke in Osun, only for Adeleke to emerge as governor of the state. Melaye also recounted other candidates that Wike supported but went on to lose in the last general elections.
Melaye said, “I will want Nigerians to know that Wike was my biggest supporter when I ran for governorship in 2019, financially, and even otherwise. Apart from funding me to the tune of hundred of dollars in the last governorship election in 2019, he provided his private jet to drop me in Kogi on the day of the primary; that is to show you the level, magnitude and intensity of his support and belief in me. So the man who saw competence and capacity in me, and invested in that project, today in 2023, is saying that I am not qualified; the only explanation to that is psychotic disorderliness.”
Melaye, who has nine university degrees, also reminded Wike that Kogi is not Rivers and that the people of Kogi State would not worship any foreign God. He added that power belongs to God, and He gives it to whoever he wants, even the basest of men. Wike had on Tuesday rubbished Melaye’s governorship ambition, saying the PDP chieftain does not have what it takes to contest for the Kogi state’s governorship.
During a live media chat with selected journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Wike said, “Why would Kogi people say they would vote for a candidate like Dino? Are we joking? When you give Dino that ticket, you know he won’t win in Kogi State.”
Wike maintained that Melaye does not have what it takes to be a governor and that if the PDP gives the ticket to Melaye, the party is doomed to lose the exercise.
