Dino's Recall: Melaye Fights Back,Publishes Kogi's Govt House "Outrageous" 2017 Budget

The moves to recall Senator Dino Melaye of Kogi West from the National Assembly, Monday, thickened as the pro- Dino’s recall group said they have gathered 188,588 signatures out of the 360,098 registered voters in Kogi West representing 52% percent required for his removal. This is coming on the heel of a Pro-Dino’s group describing the recall process as a ‘comedy’.

 The Special Adviser to the state governor on political affairs, Mr. Pius Kolawole announced this on Monday in Lokoja while addressing party members from the district. He said that the collation of signatures of voters to that effect was carried out successfully on June 17. Kolawole commended voters in the district for turning out en mass for the exercise, saying that Section 69 of the 1999 constitution backed their action. “In 2015, we voted for Dino and now we are using the same method to return him home,” he said. Announcing the result of the collation, the Returning Officer, Mr. Adamu Yusuf said that 188, 588 out of the 360,098 in the senatorial district endowed Melaye’s recall. While giving the breakdown of the result per the seven local governments in the district, Yusuf said 18, 374 of the total number of 35,331 registered voters in Yagba East approved the recall. Others are 9, 186, out of 18,356 voters in Mopa-Muro local government, 24, 703 out of 46, 810 voters in Yagba West, 63,736 out of 116,296 in Lokoja Local Government and 24,283 out of 46,819 in Ijumu Local Government. In Kabba/Bunu Local Government, 28,277 out of 60, 520 voters endorsed the recall, while 24,703 out of 46,810 voters in Kogi Local Government voted for move to recall Melaye. According to Yusuf, with this, the next move is to submit the document to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the next action.

…SEN. DINO’S RECALL A “COMEDY” – PRO DINO But the Pro Dino’s group under the aegis of Coalition of Enlightened Voters, non-partisan group of electorate in Yagba Federal constituency distanced itself from the recall, describing it as a ‘comedy”. 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 (Mopamuro), said, “We dissociate Yagba people in the three local government areas of Yagba West, Yagba East and Mopamuro, and the 34 electoral wards in Yagba Federal Constituency, from the farce tagged recall process.

Senator Melaye himself also took to the social media in an apparent fight back published the government house budget of Kogi State. The budget had government house vehicle maintenance and other expenses sky rocket from their earlier budgeted form.

The travelling cost of the governor alone for 2017 is at eight hundred million Naira.