Senator Dino Melaye, who was the governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election in Kogi State, has denied rumors that he received N3 billion from Atiku Abubakar and businessman Aliko Dangote. Speaking at a dinner organized by members of his campaign organization in Abuja, Melaye dismissed the report as fake news spread by his detractors and mischief makers. The former senator also said that he did not collect N1 billion from Atiku and N2 billion from Dangote as was being speculated. He further discussed three lessons he learned from contesting the election.
According to Melaye, the first lesson is that the east now knows they cannot become governor alone. They will have to collaborate with other zones to become governors. The second lesson is for those from the west. Melaye said that next time, they should listen to the words of wisdom from their elders and not from commercialized characters who create problems for them because, at the end of the day, what their elders have been saying that this will be the worst election for them is eventually what happened. Finally, Melaye stressed that unity was required within the PDP family in the state, especially in Kogi West, for the party to win any election.
Melaye declared that it was against the political interest of the party for Kogi West or any zone in the state to field more than one candidate in such a critical election. He also expressed his gratitude to God and the leaders who supported him throughout the campaign. According to him, they did not experience any gunshots or killings during the campaign, and he thanked everyone for their support.
Melaye further claimed that there was no governorship election in Kogi State.