Kogi guber: Anxiety as defection gale hits PDP

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State, Dino Melaye’s chance of being elected is being threatened by some streaks of setbacks. 

Assistant Editor, ‘Dare Odufowokan, reports that the most severe of these may be the gale of defections rocking the opposition party ahead of the guber election.

Ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State, the controversial emergence of Senator Dino Melaye as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the guber contest appears to have created more cracks within the ranks of the troubled party. 

MOUTHPIECE NGR understands that many chieftains and members of the PDP in the state, who are worried over the development, are now calling for urgent actions to be taken to halt the incessant defections.

According to party sources, several stakeholders, groups and individuals within the party have raised alarm over the challenges posed by the gale of defections since the emergence of Melaye as governorship candidate, calling on the guber candidate and other leaders of the party to urgently take drastic steps towards pacifying the many aggrieved chieftains that may also be considering dumping the party before the all important election.

A former state chairman of the party, who does not wish to be named, told our correspondent that many more prominent chieftains of the PDP in Kogi are plotting to leave the party and join the ruling party ahead of the November election as a way of showing their displeasure with the way Melaye cornered the gubernatorial ticket of the party. “They are bidding their time. They will move out of PDP unless we do more than we are currently doing to pacify them,” he said.

Speaking further, he accused Melaye of carrying on as if he can win the election without those who are unhappy with his candidacy. “The governorship election is not about Melaye alone. It is about the party and he needs to understand that. We have a good chance of returning to government this time if we put our house in order. Sadly, Melaye of carrying on as if he can win the election without those who are unhappy with his candidacy,” he added.

The Nation however gathered that some party leaders have commenced efforts to get some of the issues at stake resolved in the interest of the party. “We are doing a lot to reconcile the affected people. We are talking to those who are unhappy and those who are plotting to dump our party. We just hope the winners will be magnanimous and the losers will be sportsmanly all in the interest of PDP as we go into this very important election,” Hon. Ibrahim Omiata, a former lawmaker said.

Controversial primary

Melaye won the PDP governorship primary election in Kogi State by scoring the highest votes in the indirect primary election that was held in Lokoja, the State capital. The election, which had a former governor of Kaduna State and one-time PDP national chairman, Ahmed Makarfi, as the Returning Officer, had delegates from the 21 local government areas of Kogi State in attendance as well as top officials of the party, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and security agencies.

While declaring the results of the indirect primary election, the electoral officer, Barr. Lauretu Ogwuche, confirmed that Dino Melaye scored a total of 313 votes to defeat eight other governorship aspirants of the party. He was subsequently unveiled as the flag-bearer of the PDP for the November 11 governorship election in the state. However, his emergence as the candidate of the opposition party remains controversial right from the onset.

Before the primary election, some of the contestants had raised an alarm that the delegates list was being manipulated in favour of Melaye, the eventual winner.

“With me here are photocopies of the authentic delegates list, which had been duly certified by INEC as the result of what transpired on March 29 at the PDP congress in Kogi. There will be serious and grave consequences for the PDP if the approved delegates list isn’t used,” former Deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi, said while accusing the leadership of the PDP in the state of conspiracy.

Tajudeen Yusuf, who was PDP senatorial candidate for Kogi West during the 2023 general elections, described the allegedly manipulated delegates list as a terrible development and a fraudulent act. Bolufemi Rotimi, who was also a governorship aspirant, had warned that “failure not to use the authentic list will result in cancellation of the whole process. If they forge any list on Sunday for the primary election, there’s going to be a serious crisis.”

Consequently, indications that some of the dissatisfied governorship aspirants will work against Melaye in the November 11th guber poll became rife. To many analysts and other observers of the politics of the state, the angry PDP chieftains and their supporters are most likely to throw their weight behind Ododo Usman,  the governorship candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). “Many of them are still not hiding their displeasure with the outcome of the primary election,” a source said.

Within the party, there remain concerns that not less than two former governors, an ex-deputy governor as well as other senior stalwarts are still likely to dump the PDP with their supporters before the November 11 election in protest over Melaye’s candidature.

According to party sources, while some of the disgruntled party chieftains have concluded plans to move out of the party, others are still negotiating their exit from the opposition party.