The National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in
Lokoja have sacked Senator Dino Melaye as the Senator for Kogi West.
In its judgment, the tribunal ordered fresh conduct of elections in the
senatorial district.
But reacting to the judgment, Senator Melaye appealed to his supporters to
remain calm saying, “no cause for alarm.”
Dino who is vying for the governorship position of the state, said even if
the ruling was in his favour, it would have been appealed.
He insisted that there would be fresh senatorial election in the district
and that he would be the next governor.
Senator Melaye was declared winner of the February 23 election by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the platform of the
People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
However, dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, his challenger from
the All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Smart Adeyemi asked the tribunal to
nullify the election on the grounds of alleged malpractices and other electoral
irregularities.
In its unanimous judgment on Friday, the three-man panel of justices
annulled Dino’s election and ordered a fresh election to be conducted in the
affected district