Tribunal sacks Dino Melaye as Kogi West Senator, orders fresh election
The senator representing Kogi West senatorial district at the Senate, Dino Melaye, has been sacked by the National Assembly election petition tribunal.
According to a Vanguard report, Melaye, who was a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared winner of the February 23 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Not satisfied by the declaration, Senator Smart Adeyemi, who was the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), approached the tribunal to challenge Melaye’s victory, citing, irregularities, over-voting and non compliance with the electoral acts.
The three man panel led by Justice A. O. Chijioke in a unanimous judgment on Friday, August 23, accepted Adeyemi’s ground and ordered for reelection into the senatorial axis.
Reacting to the tribunal’s judgement, Melaye who is contesting in the upcoming governorship election in Kogi state said there was no cause for alarm over his sack, adding that his mandate would not be taken from him.
mNaija gathered that the embattled senator said that 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 Kogi’s next governor. According to him, he who laughs last laughs long.
