Yomi Awoniyi, a former deputy Governor of Kogi State says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial primary in Kogi State on Sunday lacks credibility, and the emergence of its winner — Senator Dino Melaye portends danger.
Recall that Melaye defeated the other 8 aspirants with 313 votes, and lauded the efforts of the party’s leadership, his fellow candidates, and party members for their character during the primary election, after his victory.
However, Awoniyi described Melaye’s votes as products of a “tainted delegates list, in a statement on Monday in Lokoja.
His words: “Without an iota of doubt, I make bold to say 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 Senator Dino Melaye’s enablers within the party hierarchy at the highest level.
“To gift any aspirant, a total of 158 votes in a contest for 739 votes, involving eight aspirants is not a fair contest. It is fraudulent, duplicitous, sinful, and unwholesome because it confers an undue advantage on the favoured aspirant. Senator Dino Melaye won a fraudulent primary.
This pyrrhic victory may look like a fait accompli, but the dust is unlikely to settle even beyond the November 11, 2023 governorship election. From the forgoing, it may surprise many that I do not necessarily blame Senator Dino Melaye for where we find ourselves today. He needs to search his heart to see if he has behaved well, as a counsellor of the celestial, which he claims to be. But I blame his enablers.”
It’s also pertinent that Awoniyi also aspired to be PDP’s gubernatorial candidate in Kogi State, but he came second behind Melaye with 77 votes.
