Kogi West PDP rallies behind Melaye, demands his immediate release

Kogi West Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the security agencies to release Senator Dino Melaye, who is representing the senatorial zone, without further delay.

The call came after an emergency meeting held at the Iyah-Gbede residence of General David Jemibewon (rtd.) to review the “unabated intimidation” of the senator.

In a statement signed by Taiwo Kola-Ojo, the chairman, Kogi West PDP vowed to return Melaye to the senate, whether he is allowed to campaign or not, just the same way his recall exercise was killed by the people, his incapacitation during the period notwithstanding.

It asked the people of the district to resist the wickedness of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and vote massively for Melaye.

The party described the ordeal of their senator since he left APC as “one of the dubious tactics against the PDP across the country,” adding that “it is medicine after death.”

It observed that the senator’s incarceration was a deliberate strategy to cripple his re-election campaign.

The statement read in part: “The occupation of the residence, inhuman evacuation and the ultimate incarceration of Senator Dino Melaye by the Nigerian police in cahoots with the APC governments at the national level and Kogi State is cowardly, retrogressive, repressive and persecuted.”

It noted that any breach of the law should not be condoned when such had been proved, stressing the need to accord appropriate respect to Senator Melaye against whom no offence had been proved.

Calling for the immediate release of Melaye and the unconditional withdrawal of all frivolous charges for which he is being tried in about seven courts in Abuja and Lokoja, the party said that Melaye’s tenure brought more democracy dividends to Kogi West than Kogi State and councils in the area.

It expressed satisfaction with the representation of Melaye.

Worried by the various manipulative activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as shown by the controversial role assigned to Amina Zakari, President Buhari’s sister, the controversy surrounding incident forms and card readers, as well as the sudden alarm raised by the governors of Katsina, Borno and Zamfara states, the party enjoined the people to put on their full consciousness to check the rigging plans of APC.

The meeting called on the people of Kogi to turn out massively to receive Atiku Abubakar, who would be on a campaign visit to the state soon.