The Kogi State branch of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) has formally introduced Senator Dino Melaye to the party's members and stakeholders as its candidate for the State's governorship election on November 11, 2023.
Party leaders and members from all 21 of the State's local government areas attended the event, which took place in Lokoja on Wednesday.
Melaye, a two-time National Assembly member, was introduced as the party's standard bearer after winning the primary election on April 16.
Engr. Sam Ohuotu, the PDP's state chairman, made an appeal to party members during his speech at the event, urging them to wisely take advantage of their chance to unseat the ruling APC.
Engr. Ohuotu said, “We have gone through the rigours of primary and it was a very transparent one, there might be issues before and after the primary election but the opportunity to take back power in Kogi State is in our hands. I am appealing to you, all those who are aggrieved in one way or the other, that for the sake of Kogi State and for the sake of our children, allow such grievances be vacated from their minds.
“Vengeance is a visionless entity and we can not patronise it. We can see that God is creating a natural rotation system for us in Kogi State. We can also see that the narratives have changed and we can’t allow one part of the state to be cheating on the others. My position about this is clear and I am appealing that all of us should come together and take back our state and make it work.â€
According to him, Kogi shouldn't be this poor because the state has enough gold reserves to make its people extremely wealthy.
“Kogi State has over 42 mineral resources untapped, there is nothing wrong if we have five Obajanas in the State. There is no reason why Ajaokuta should not be working, there is no reason why we should depend on monthly Federal allocations. All these will be brought to a halt when I become the governor through you in November.
“We have enormous resources and loose funds around the world waiting to be accessed. What you only need is an enabling environment and ideas to access those funds, I will use my connections around the world to attract investments to the state,†Melaye promised.
Shortly after the presentation, Senator Dino Melaye, a PDP governorship candidate, thanked all party members for their support and assured them he wouldn't let them down.
A former governor of the State, Ibrahim Idris (Ibro), also addressed the crowd during the ceremony and urged party members to support Melaye, whom he described as having a powerful personality and someone who will help the State recover from the past seven years of hardship.
"To do this, there is the need to see ourselves as one big family and work together to install Dino Melaye in November,†Idris stated.