SAHARA REPORTERS
Dino Melaye, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for November 2013 Kogi governorship election has lambasted Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, calling him an “expired drug that is about to be taken off the shelf”.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that Governor Wike in a media chat with Channels TV said Melaye knew he lacked what was required to be a governor of a state, adding that if Kogi people voted for him, it means they do not want development.
“When you give Dino that ticket, you know you won’t win in Kogi State. Why will Kogi people say they will vote for a candidate like Dino? Are we joking? The mere fact that you are from Kogi, therefore any Kogi person?
“We are talking about governance of a state and we are not talking about drama. For Christ’s sake, PDP presents such a candidate and you mean that Kogi people want development? Let us stop the idea that he is from Kogi. Take, for example, anybody from Lagos State should just come out and Lagos people should go and vote for him to be governor. I mean, that can’t be serious,” Wike had said.
But speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, Melaye, who recently won the governorship primaries of his party in Kogi said, “I don’t want to bother myself discussing with a man that is about to leave office and suffering from post-election trauma.”
“I don’t have the time actually for drug and alcohol-induced individuals,” he added.
When he was cautioned by one of the anchors of the programme against making statements he could not substantiate, Melaye said, “We work with time and season. Governor Wike himself on national TV on a Monday said he was taking 40-year-old whiskey.”
“He advertised himself to Nigerians,” he said.
When he referred to his previous comments about being helped by Wike in the past, Melaye said, “Wike himself has been helped by the PDP and anything he is doing for any individual in the PDP is like giving back from what the PDP has done for him.
“Governor (Peter) Odili made him the chairman of his local government. So he has been helped by someone.
“After Odili helped him, Governor Amaechi made him chief of staff. Governor Amaechi nominated him to be minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Patience Jonathan (former first lady) spent her money and connections to make him the governor of River State.”
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN SAHARA REPORTERS