How much does Atiku’s support for Melaye worth?
Ex Vice President Atiku Abubakar is not an ingrate. He knows those who stood vehemently for him during his struggle to win the seat of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He knows both his enthusiasts and adversaries. He has been rewarding those who believe in his struggle.
However, one can ask without mincing words that how much does Atiku’s support for Dino Melaye worth? The ex member of the Senate from Kogi West was one of the “foot soldiers” that fought for the PDP’s presidential candidate during the election. He was also the agent at the national collation centre, Abuja.
Atiku Abubakar didn’t snub Dino Melaye when the latter wanted to succeed Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello. He provided support and even attended one of the numerous rallies of the former vice president. Yet it’s surprising that Dino Melaye, the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kogi State gubernatorial election came far third.
Atiku isn’t a green horn in the political terrain of the country. He has been jostling for one post or the other since 1993. He should have learned the basic rudiments needed to win election and use such to make his associates and loyalists win.
If the larger country is difficult for the former vice president to convince to support him, Kogi shouldn’t be too big for him to win for his diehard loyalist Melaye. It’s now amazing that the Kogi governorship candidate Melaye has just 46,362 votes to come third behind the the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Murtala Ajaka, who has 259,052 votes.
Melaye made just 10% of the total votes of the winner of the election, Usman Ahmed Ododo. The All Progressives Congress candidate has 446,237 votes. What happened to the structure that Atiku used in Kogi State? What does it cost to put the same mercenary in place for Dino Melaye?
The worst that should have happened is the ex lawmaker coming second with hundreds of thousands of votes. That the SDP candidate, Ajaka came second with a wide margin between him and Melaye shows that Atiku’s support is nothing to write home about.
While this content won’t go into the endless debate on Atiku and Nyesom Wike, one would agree that the latter was/is quite instrumental to lots of victories the party recorded in the past few years.
Follow us on social media
