Dino Melaye, the Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) candidate for Kogi, has refuted claims that he accepted bribes in order to secure the party's nomination.
Remember how some disgruntled party members criticized Dino Melaye's selection as the PDP governorship candidate for the Kogi election in November 2023, claiming the latter's votes were the result of a tainted delegates' list.
“Without an iota of doubt, I make bold to say that Senator Melaye’s victory is a pyrrhic one.
“This victory portends great danger to the unity of our party and the prospect of winning the November 11 governorship election.
“The primary that threw up Senator Melaye was flawed; 158 delegates, who emerged from the state ad hoc congress of March 29, 2023, were replaced by the woeful Senator Abdul Ningi Congress Committee, working in concert with Melaye’s enablers within the party hierarchy at the highest level,” the former Kogi Deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi had alleged in a statement.
But in response, Dino Melaye said the "anointing oil" he gave delegates "did the magic" on Channels Television Politics Today on Tuesday.
He added that his margin of victory was two times greater than the allegedly manipulated list that was allegedly replaced by the complainants, refuting claims that the delegate list was manipulated prior to the election.
Dino won the primary with 313 votes, defeating Jabiru Usman, who received 127 votes, who was a close second.
At the conclusion of the indirect primary held in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, on Sunday, Ahmed Makarfi, the chairman of the PDP primary Election Committee, announced the outcomes.
Yomi Awoniyi, a former deputy governor, received 77 votes, and Musa Wada, the PDP's candidate for governor in 2019, received 56 votes.