Follow Us on Google
Controversial Senator, Dino Melaye appears a step ahead of his traducers, who are presently intensifying efforts to drown him politically by recalling him from the Senate where his voice has been louder than those of his colleagues in the past two years, especially on national issues. In this interview with HENRY OKONKWO, he accused Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello of masterminding and funding efforts to recall him even as he called such moves a comedy of errors. He revealed that the list being used to recall him was an embodiment of forgery.
What is the problem between you and the Kogi State governor that has led to an attempt to recall you?
I would start by saying categorically that there is no personal problem between me and Governor Yaya Bello; not at all. In fact, I am one of those who supported him to get to that office, thinking that he was a young person, a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University-my alma mater. And again, I was interested in power shifting to the minorities in Kogi State. But unfortunately, I did not attack or say anything against Bello until the day he celebrated his one year in office, because I believe one year is enough to assess any governor or any political office holder. But unfortunately, in one year as at that time, it’s been a time of agony, of pain, of deaths, of sorrow, of non payment of salaries, non payment of pensions, against the people of Kogi State. And I can’t be fighting injustice at the national level and close my eyes to injustice in my state. I am a civil rights activist, I speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, if I keep quiet with the manifestation of the governor of Kogi State, then God in heaven will not forgive me.
So the reason why the issue of recall came up is because of my continuous and voracious request that the governor pay workers in Kogi State. For 17 months, I speak on good authority, on my honour as a member of the Senate, that he has not been paying salaries. These civil servants have families. These civil servants have students in higher institutions of learning that they need to pay their school fees. Some of them are treating hypertension, and some of them are diabetic. They have routine drugs that they take, and many have died because they have not been able to purchase these drugs. Many, because of incessant request for screening in Lokoja, people travel from different localities to Lokoja. Many have died on the road; many have been kidnapped on their way to Lokoja. There is no civil servant outside Lokoja in Kogi State that would say he hasn’t travelled to Lokoja more than 10 times in the name of screening. And yet you’re not being paid, you’re being requested to come for screening and at the end of the day, the screening exercise was a beautiful nonsense; nothing came out of it.
And I am aware that the first bailout was paid to Kogi State. And I heard Mr President-Muhammadu Buhari in clear terms when he said ‘this is for augmenting the arrears of salaries.’ He got a second bailout; no governor in the history of Kogi State has been so fortunate in terms of resources like Yaya Bello. He got the first bailout, he got the second bailout. He got the first tranche of Paris club refund and the second tranche of Paris Club, yet he is unable to pay salary. Instead, he’s been stealing the money of Kogi State, building properties across the country. We have evidence we’re generating, we are keeping and we would bring them out very soon.
And I’m telling you on good authority that he’s the worst governor in the history of Kogi State. And because of my agitation for the welfare of the workers and pensioners of Kogi State, he orchestrated an assassination attempt on me the first time, it failed. He organized the second attempt; it failed to the glory of God. And this time around he said he wants to recall me. But unfortunately those who did not call me ab initio have no capacity, capability or wherewithal to recall me. Yaya Bello did not vote for me, he is not a member of my constituency, he has no electoral value as far as my seat in the Senate is concerned. So he has no power to recall me. So he sat down with his appointees, and got INEC data, then directly transferred names from INEC register to the recall list. Do you know that my blood brother’s name is on that list? Do you know that two of my uncles from Takete who are immediate brothers to my mother, their names are on that list? And we have also discovered that there were a lot of ghosts, a lot of dead people, their names are on the list. In some instances, the names of some people on the list supersede the required number of eligible voters and registered voters in the INEC register.
So like I said, it’s a comedy of error. But we do not want to close our eyes to it. I’ve been reading junk journalists saying that I have gone to court out of panic. Never! It is not out of panic. But I’ve gone to court to make sure that those who have committed forgery must be prosecuted and must go to jail. And fortunately enough, some people have come out to present this petition to INEC. So we see them, we know them and we have videos, we have evidence. So we have a starting point, those to start with, and I can assure that heads shall roll. I am assuring you, that as I am sitting here I have seen in a dream many of Bello’s political appointees in befitting prison uniforms. They will definitely go to prison. And this whole process, this whole attack, is to shut me up. And I will not shut up.
Both of you are prominent leaders in Kogi State, are there no elders in Kogi to sit the two of you down and settle this?
In fact, I want to say that Yahaya Bello is a cantankerous character, he has no regard or respect for elders. In fact immediately he came into office, he said that anybody who is above 40 cannot be part of his government and cannot advise him. So, he has appointed mediocres, charlatans, educated illiterates, certificated fools into positions of authority in Kogi State. So that has completely distanced him from those who even have the capacity and capability to advise him.
So, because of that initial posture that he has brought and because of the kindergarten approach to governance, many credible leaders in Kogi State have distanced themselves from him. As I speak to you, the entire state Exco, the state working committee of the party have denounced the governor. They have addressed a press conference to stand by me. The party is completely separated from Yahaya Bello.
He worked against this party. When we came on board, we had three senators from Kogi State, Yahaya Bello financed opposition, and supported opposition to take two out of these senate seats away from APC. Today we have two PDP senators, and one APC senator. I’m the only APC senator in Kogi State. Even me that I’m the only APC senator, he wants to recall me and replace me with a PDP person. The member representing Okene-Ogori/Magongo in the Federal House of representatives lost his seat; two members lost their seats, all with the support of Yahaya Bello. So he is anti-APC.
So this action by the APC and myself is to separate him for the APC. Because we still want to use this vehicle in future election. So we don’t want the party to be identified with him that is why we are separating him from the party.
The chairman of the party is not with him, the deputy chairman in the state is not with him, the secretary of the party in the state is not with him, the treasurer is not with him. The three senatorial vice chairmen including his own senatorial district, they are not with him, the local government party chairman of Okene- his own local government, is not with him. He is one of those that have appended their signatures on vote of confidence on me, and those who have asked the governor should resign.
Some have insinuated that probably your interest in the Lugard House in 2019 is really the root cause of this. How true is this? Are you interested in taking over his seat?
All the time I have been fighting at the national level for good governance, is it because I’m interested in contesting the presidency of this country? I fought Goodluck Jonathan to stand still. I was arrested 14 times in one year during the Jonathan administration. So that cannot be it but we cannot keep quiet in an unjust society, silence is a crime. We cannot fold our hands and watch financial scavengers and economic cankerworms destroy what we have built and laboured for. When we brought APC success to Kogi State; Yahaya Bello was not part of it. When we brought the success of Kogi State, Smart Adeyemi was not part of it. So we cannot close our eyes having fought and laboured and built the party in the state, and defeated the ruling party, only for us to lose it because of the selfish manifestation of Yahaya Bello.
Now that you have virtually the entire structure of APC in Kogi State behind you, what if the party in 2019 decides to offer you its governorship ticket? Would you consider that?
The future belongs to the Lord. I have no plan as I am sitting here to run for the governorship. All I am interested in is that the governor must do anything he can to pay workers because resources have been provided for him. We have gotten every allocation month by month that is supposed to be accrued to Kogi State. There is internally generated revenue, and then there is assistance of bailout funds twice and Paris Club twice. Where is the money? Today we have no local government chairmen or counsellor. What is happening to the local government money coming from the federation account? These are questions begging for answers.
Finally how do you think there can be peace in Kogi because it is the state that is losing at the moment…
The only solution to this whole brouhaha in Kogi State is for Yahaya Bello to become born again, confess his sin and repent, restitution by paying teachers, workers and pensioners their entitlements because even the holy book says that a labourer is worthy of his wage.
