Adeyemi Replaces Melaye As Senate Committee Chairman On Aviation

Kogi West: Smart Adeyemi Is 'My Political Wife' – Melaye — Dino Melaye Smart Adeyemi

The lawmaker representing Kogi West senatorial district in the National Assembly, Senator Smart Adeyemi, has been named as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation.

President of the Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan, announced this on Friday during the last plenary session for 2019.

Senator Adeyemi replaces Senator Dino Melaye who held the position until he left the Senate.

The Red Chamber of the National Assembly, thereafter, adjourned plenary until January 28, 2020.

A Quest To Reclaim Mandate

Senator Adeyemi unseated Senator Melaye on November 30 to return to the Senate for a third term, after a Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed an appeal filed by Melaye challenging the nullification of his victory in the general elections.

In line with the order of the court, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted a fresh election on November 16.

INEC was, however, forced to conduct a supplementary poll after the rerun election failed to produce a winner as it was said to have been marred by violence and other electoral malpractices.

Although the results of the poll favoured Senator Adeyemi who polled 80,118 votes as against Senator Melaye’s 59,548 votes, the returning officer had said that he was constrained by law to declare a winner.

At the end of the supplementary exercise, the electoral umpire returned Senator Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election.

He lawmaker polled a total of 88,373 votes to beat Senator Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 62,133 votes.

Ambassador Rufus Aiyenigba of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) came third in the poll with 659 votes and was trailed by John Olabode and Adeyemi Taiwo of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Nigeria Elements Progressive Party (NEPP) who polled 262 and 119 votes respectively.

Senate Swears In Smart Adeyemi, Replaces Dino Melaye

Senate President Ahmed Lawan has swore-in Senator Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Adeyemi is replacing Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who lost the rerun in the Kogi West senatorial district election.

The swearing-in was done by the Clerk of the Senate, Nelson Ayewoh, at the start of plenary.

Adeyemi is returning to the Senate about five years after he lost the seat to Melaye at the 2015 election.

This was after he emerged victorious at the bye-election conducted last week in the district by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Returning Officer of the election, Professor Olajide Lawal, announced that Adeyemi polled a total of 88,373 votes to beat Melaye who scored 62,133 votes.

May Nigeria Never Have The Kind Of Dino As A Senator – Adeyemi

Senator Smart Adeyemi has taken a swipe at Senator Dino Melaye, his closest rival in the just concluded Kogi West district senatorial election.

Reacting to his victory in the poll, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate berated his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opponent for his kind of person.

“Dino is not a good representation of the people of Kogi West,” said Adeyemi during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

He added, “I am sure that no Nigerian would want to have somebody like Dino as a Senator. May Nigeria never have the kind of Dino as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Senator Adeyemi was returned elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the Kogi West senatorial district election after polling the highest number of votes.

Announced the results on Saturday last week in Kogi, the Returning Officer for the election Professor Olajide Lawal said Senator Adeyemi scored of 88,373 votes to beat Senator Melaye got 62,133 votes.

Senator Melaye has since rejected the outcome of the election, alleging that he was robbed while his life was in danger.

On The Street?

But Senator Adeyemi denied the claims by his PDP rival, stressing that he got the mandate to return to the Senate at the free will of the people.

Rather, he accused Senator Melaye of failing the people of the senatorial district and that he was voted out because the people wanted a change.

“Dino has never worked anywhere before, he was on the street. How can he claim to have been in politics before me,” the APC candidate questioned.

He added, “Dino did nothing since he has been there rather than buying cars and showing to the Nigerian people.

“I won the election based on the conviction of the Nigerian people, people of my senatorial district, and people of my state that the time had come for them to effect a change.”

‘Adeyemi Will Remain My Political Wife’, His Victory Is Temporal – Melaye

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Kogi West senatorial district election, Senator Dino Melaye, has insisted that he won the poll.

He stated this on Sunday, a day after he lost his bid to remain in the Senate to Senator Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Despite suffering a defeat to his APC rival, Senator Melaye stressed that he would always win Senator Adeyemi whom he described as his political wife.

“I want to assure you that Smart Adeyemi would remain my political wife, I started politics before him,” he said during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

Melaye added, “I won the election and the duty of Smart Adeyemi is temporal and evaporative. I want to assure you that those congratulating Smart Adeyemi amount to congratulating an armed robber after a successful operation.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had returned Senator Adeyemi as the winner of the Kogi West senatorial district election after polling the highest number of votes.

In his declaration on Saturday last week in Kogi, the Returning Officer for the election Professor Olajide Lawal announced that Senator Adeyemi scored of 88,373 votes to beat Senator Melaye got 62,133 votes.

But Senator Melaye has rejected the outcome of the election, alleging that he was robbed while his life was in danger.

He insisted that there was no election in the senatorial district and gave assurance that he would soon return to the Senate.

“There was no election, only an attempt to kill me. I will reclaim my mandate because I was voted for,” he claimed.

The PDP candidate added, “I won the election but through the instrumentality of violence and national conspiracy, these have been tampered with. I want to assure Nigerians that it is temporal.”

UPDATED: Adeyemi Unseats Melaye, Wins Kogi West Senatorial District Election

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Smart Adeyemi, has won the Kogi West senatorial district election.

The Returning Officer of the election, Professor Olajide Lawal, announced this on Saturday at the collation centre in Kogi State.

According to him, Senator Adeyemi polled a total of 88,373 votes to beat Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 62,133 votes.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the APC candidate as the winner of the keenly contested election two weeks after the people of the senatorial district went to the poll.

See the result below:

This came after the supplementary poll conducted by INEC following the November 16 rerun election which failed to produce a winner.

It was said to have been marred by violence and other alleged electoral malpractices.

He explained that the margin of 20,570 votes between the two candidates was lower than the number of cancelled votes in 53 polling units of the 20 registration.

Following the victory of the APC candidate in the rerun poll and upon receiving the certificate of return, Senator Adeyemi will replace Senator Melaye as the lawmaker representing Kogi West senatorial district in the National Assembly.

INEC’s decision to conduct a fresh election in the senatorial district was in line with the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which dismissed an appeal filed by Senator Melaye challenging the nullification of his victory on February 23. during the general elections.

APC Jubilates

Reacting to the outcome of the poll, APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, congratulated Senator Adeyemi on behalf of the party.

In a statement, he described the victory as “well-deserve” and thanked the people of the senatorial district for their support for the party and its candidate.

Read the statement below:
I congratulate our newly elected Senator, Smart Adeyemi on his well-deserved victory in the Kogi West re-run election which held today.
This victory has again affirmed the general acceptance of our great party, by the great people of Kogi State who just a few weeks ago voted massively for our governorship candidate, Governor Yahaya Bello, who was re-elected for a second term.
I have always believed in the ability of the people of Kogi West to elect leaders who will make them proud in the Senate and not the defeated Senator Melaye who is among the 16 Senators who rebelled against our party.
As it stands today, the broom has swept away the entire 16 Senators, Dino being the last, who tried to destabilise our democracy for their personal interest, jettisoning the interest of the electorate.
On behalf of our great party the APC, I congratulate my brother and friend, Senator Smart Adeyemi once again and we look forward toward working with you in this resolve by our dear President, Muhammadu Buhari to take the nation to the NEXT LEVEL.
Adams Oshiomhole
National Chairman of the APC

Kogi West Rerun: Collation Ends As Melaye, Adeyemi Set To Know Fate

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Dino Melaye, and that of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Smart Adeyemi, are set to know their fate in the Kogi West senatorial district election.

This comes as voting ends in all polling units where a rerun election is taking place in the senatorial zone.

The Independent National Election Commission (INEC) conducted the rerun on Saturday after it declared the November 16 poll inconclusive.

Although the poll favoured Senator Adeyemi who polled 80,118 votes as against Senator Melaye’s 59,548 votes, INEC said the margin of 20,570 votes between the two candidates was lower than the number of cancelled votes in 53 polling units of the 20 registration.

Addressing reporters on Saturday in Lokoja, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kogi, Prof James Apam, blamed the low turnout of the electorate on poor mobilisation by political parties.

He spoke to journalists shortly before embarking on a monitoring exercise, noting that the political parties ought to have convinced their supporters to come out and cast their votes.

Channels Television gathered that while the election was peaceful in Mopa Amuro and Kabba Bunu, only a few people came out to vote.

The election has since ended and votes being counted at various polling units while residents await the final collation of results by INEC and the subsequent declaration of the winner.

Residents Vote In Kogi West Senatorial Rerun

Voting has commenced in some areas of the Kogi West Senatorial supplementary election.

The rerun which first took place on November 16 was declared inconclusive by the returning officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Olayinde Lawal.

According to him, the total margin between the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Smart Adeyemi and that of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Dino Melaye was lower than the number of cancelled votes in 53 polling units of the 20 registration.

INEC officials and sensitive materials arrived some polling units before 7 am, but voting commenced at about 9 am in Itedo ward, Yagba East LGA, Ward D 004, Lokoja LGA, Aiyedayo Registration Area, Mopa Moro LGA.

Senator Adeyemi is currently leading with a total of 80,118 votes, while Senator Melaye has 59,548 votes from the seven Local Government Areas during the November 16 rerun.

See photos below:

Kogi West: We Are Constitutionally Obliged To Conclude Election, Says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has firmed up preparations to conclude the Kogi West senatorial district rerun for Saturday, November 30.

The November 16 election in the senatorial district was declared inconclusive by the returning officer, Professor Olayinde Lawal, because the margin between the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Smart Adeyemi and that of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Dino Melaye was 20,570.

Professor Lawal explained that the total margin between both candidates was lower than the 43,127 registered voters in 53 polling units of 20 registration areas in the zone where elections were cancelled.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Lunchtime Politics, the Chairman, Voter Education, and Information, Festus Okoye, stated that the commission is constitutionally obliged to conclude the elections.

“The supplementary elections in Kogi West will go ahead tomorrow because it was the collation/returning officer for that particularly senatorial district that declared the election as inconclusive and we have a constitutional and legal obligation to conclude that election and we are going to conclude it tomorrow.”

He clarified allegations of unfair usage of the smart card reader during the election while adding that the electoral umpire will continue to use the device in all elections.

“The smart card reader is innovative, creative and novel and was designed to bolster the credibility of the accreditation process. It is incumbent on every presiding officer to use the smart card reader for the purposes of accreditation.

Mr Okoye revealed that the commission received complaints of card reader malfunction in some polling units, and if the usage is resisted, zero votes will be recorded.

“There is no doubt whatsoever that in a few places, there were reports of smart card reader malfunction and we had sufficient redundancies and we intervened speedily and restored the smart card readers in the polling unit.

“We also received a few reports of attempts to bypass the use of the smart card readers and all the presiding officers have very clear instructions that if there is over-voting in any polling unit, the result should be cancelled.

“If any community or political force resists the use of the smart card reader, zero votes should be recorded for that particular polling unit,” he stated.

Kogi West: PDP’s Reported Boycott Of Supplement Poll, A Silly Joke – APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the purported plan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to boycott the supplementary election in Kogi West senatorial district as ‘a silly joke’.

APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said this in a statement on Sunday ahead of the November 30 date fixed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the poll.
“Why should the supplementary election be cancelled as being demanded by the PDP? Is it because the PDP has already lost the election?” it questioned.

The party insisted that the PDP candidate, Senator Dino Melaye, did not win the February 23 poll and that was affirmed by the Court of Appeal.

It added that the electorate in the senatorial district resisted and frustrated the purported plan to rig the November 16 rerun election.

APC stressed that no level of propaganda would change the fact that the supplementary election would hold on November 30 while the opposition party threatened to boycott the poll.

“Who is fooling who? Nobody is fooled by the PDP’s statement boycotting the supplementary election. The All Progressives Congress (APC) will not drop its guard in our quest to get a clear majority of the remaining votes in the affected units,” it said.

In a swift reaction, Senator Melaye denied and faulted the claims that the PDP planned to boycott the election.

He insisted that he won the November 16 election, saying “Smart Adeyemi, in his good conscience, knows that I won that election.”

The embattled lawmaker described the APC’s statement as a misrepresentation of the fact presented by the spokesperson for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan.

According to him, Ologbondiyan never said the PDP will boycott that election but that is the imagination of the APC

Melaye explained, “He (Ologbondiyan) said the party rejects the results of that election and the figures that are giving birth to the supplementary elections.

“The PDP is a people’s party, the PDP is a party that respects the constitutionalism of democracy and will never shy away from political participation and elections, and the PDP will never say they are boycotting and election, although we all know that they are not credible.

“Those figures that you see there are all concocted figures,” he added.

Kogi West Election: Oshiomhole’s Statement Is ‘Human Verdict’ – Melaye

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Kogi West senatorial election, Dino Melaye, has faulted the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (ACP), Adams Oshiomhole, for his comments on the poll.

Senator Melaye, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, stated that Mr Oshiomhole has no power to decide his fate in the November 16 election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the election inconclusive after Senator Smart Adeyemi of the APC polled 80,118 votes as against Senator Melaye’s 59,548, with a margin of 20,570 votes.

A God Verdict

Addressing a meeting of APC National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja on Friday last week, Oshiomhole said his party looked forward to winning the Kogi West seat in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

According to him, Melaye is at 20,000ft below ground level and he is hoping that there will be a miracle that will bring him to ground level.

In his reaction, Senator Melaye said he was not worried about the comments made by Oshiomhole as he cannot determine the outcome of the supplementary election to be conducted by INEC.

“The verbal diarrhoea by the Chairman of APC boasting that 16 of us left the APC and I am the only one standing and in a matter of days, he said I will leave the Senate; I want to say that is human verdict but there is a God verdict,” he stated.

Senator Melaye added, “My seat will not be vacant, I will continue to be a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the grace of God in the next four years.

“I won that election and we have our pink copies of all our unit results. These have been tabulated and clearly, I won that election and Smart Adeyemi, in his good conscience, knows that I won that election.”

Rather, he took a swipe at the APC chairman, stressing that a PDP senator from Sokoto State who defected from the APC was returned to the red chamber by a court.

“I want to assure you that he (Oshiomhole) didn’t even get his calculation right. Senator Danbaba from Sokoto State was one of us who decamped and just won his seat back at the Court of Appeal.

“Senator Danbaba is right now in the Senate and his four years is guaranteed but because they are desperate to pronounce evil, they forgot that Danbaba is back to the Senate,” Melaye noted.

The embattled lawmaker, however, accused the APC of violence, claiming that 16 people lost their lives.

He insisted that there was no election in Kogi, alleging that the figures announced were fictitious as the PDP has “100 per cent evidence to prove that there was no election” in the state.

Melaye said, “We lost 16 people. The election, actually, it was about the life of Dino Melaye. So I give glory to God who is the Supreme controller of the universe that I am alive.”

Alleged Vote-Buying: ‘What Are You Waiting For? Sue Me’, Dino Melaye Dares APC

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Kogi West senatorial election, Dino Melaye, has challenged the All Progressives Congress (ACP) to sue him.

He said this in reaction to an allegation that he was caught on camera sharing money to some voters while on queue to cast their ballot in the election.

Senator Melaye and Mr Mohammed Onogwu, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, both appeared as guests on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

In his comments, the governor’s aide accused Senator Melaye of engaging in vote-buying, saying the APC has some video evidence to back the claim.

He said, “We have clips evidence where he (Melaye) was distributing money (voters) on the line where they were voting.”

While Onogwu was speaking, the PDP candidate interrupted in laughter and said, “What are you waiting for? Sue me.”

Instead, Senator Melaye accused the APC of being responsible for the violence which he said claimed 16 lives, alleging that a helicopter was deployed to attack voters.

He insisted that his party has evidence to prove their allegation against the APC and faulted the election, stressing that results were not cancelled in places where violence was recorded.

In his reaction, Onogwu said the allegation linking Governor Bello, who was the APC governorship candidate, to the violence in Lokoja during the elections was far from the truth.

According to him, the governor was at Agasa in Okene LGA with his convoy where he cast his vote and ensured that the exercise was peaceful and could not have been in Lokoja at the same time.

“The governor was not in Lokoja on the day of the election and he does not have a dual existence. He cannot be in Okene and at the same time be in Lokoja.

“These are fallacious statements that they are making to discredit the entire electoral processes, to discredit the entire institutions that were involved in the conduct of the election,” the governor’s aide stated.

INEC Fixes Date For Supplementary And Rerun Elections For Kogi West, Ajaokuta

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has fixed the 30th of November for the conduct of the supplementary election in Kogi West Senatorial District.

INEC says it came to the decision after its meeting today at its headquarters in Abuja.

On the same day, the umpire will also conduct a re-run election in Ajaokuta Federal Constituency.

The Commission could not conclude the election to fill the senatorial seat, after the returning officer, Professor Olayinde Lawal announced that the poll was inconclusive.

He explained that the canceled votes were more than the margin of lead between the leading candidates Mr. Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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