A bid to recall Senator Dino Melaye representing Kogi West Senatorial District of Kogi State has commenced.
Constituents from Kogi West, where the senator hails from, began mobilising homeward to register their names.
Melaye has been at loggerheads with the state governor, Yahaya Bello, and the sole administrator of Ijumu Local Government Area, Taofiq Isah, who is currently standing trial for an alleged assassination attempt on the lawmaker’s life.
The local council development areas involved in the recall process in Kogi West Senatorial District of the state are Ijumu, Kabba/Bunu, Lokoja, Kogi, Mopa/Amuro, Yagba West and Yagba East.
Our correspondent, who visited some of the councils, observed that the collection of signatures took place at Lokoja and Kogi local government councils on Friday and continued at Ijumu, Yagba West and Yagba East on Saturday as people came out with photocopies of their permanent voter cards to put their names down.
Isah was seen at Unit One, Ilu Avon in Aiyetorogbede of Ijumu LGA, which is Melaye’s unit, mobilising voters for the recall of the senator.
Those who spoke to our correspondent said they were encouraged to put down their names to recall Melaye from the National Assembly.
According to the voters, they were also asked to submit photocopies of their PVCs as evidence.
Meanwhile, Melaye, in his reaction to the bid to recall him from the Senate, has accused the governor of “shooting the moon and boxing the air.”
He said, “Spending over N1bn of taxpayers’ money on an unproductive venture, when salaries and pensions have not been paid, is wicked.
“I will continue to defend the poor and defenceless masses of Kogi State. If I die, I die. We must rescue the state.
Meanwhile, Sen. Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi) has said that the ongoing move by the electorate in his constituency to recall him from the Senate will fail.
Melaye, who is representing the Kogi West Senatorial District in the Senate, made the statement in Kabba, Kogi, on Sunday when he addressed his supporters.
He said his achievements in the Senate were enormous and as such the people of the constituency were solidly behind him.
Melaye, who later led his supporters on a peaceful march round Kabba town, alleged that the state Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, was behind the move to recall him,
Melaye alleged that 30 of his supporters who refused to be part of the move were arrested on the order of the governor.
“Quote me, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has released N200 million for each of the seven local government areas in my senatorial district to facilitate my recall from the Senate,” Melaye alleged.
In his reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Petra Akinti-Onyegbule, described Melaye’s allegation as unfounded.
