Dino Melaye denies vote-buying allegation in Kogi Guber election

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded election in Kogi state, Sen. Dino Melaye, has denied the allegation of vote-buying leveled against him by an online media platform, Sahara Reporters.

In a press statement issued on November 16, 2023, Sen. Melaye’s media directorate described the publication on Sahara Reporters as “spurious”, “unfounded” and “an attempt to distract the general public from the electoral heist that was committed in the Kogi November 11 elections”.

The statement, which was signed by the SDM Media Directorate, said that Sahara Reporters claimed that Sen. Melaye was “angry, seeks refund after sharing out N250,000 per polling unit for vote buying”.

The statement read in part: “The Media Directorate is not surprised by the low level the All Progressive Congress (APC) is willing to go to cover up their rigging in Kogi state which is currently trending amongst lovers of democracy across the country.

“What is even more laughable is that the APC chose to break their propaganda which lack substance on Sahara Reporters— an online media platform which is notoriously known for peddling falsehood and practicing yellow journalism. It is unfortunate that Sahara Reporters, through the years, have continued to allow themselves to be used as a willing tool in the desecration of our democracy.”

The statement added, “For clarity sake, Sen. Dino Melaye, as a democratic evangelist, a champion of anti-corruption in Nigeria and a man living with the fear of God will never stoop to the criminal and destructive level of the APC to engage in vote-buying.

“The SDM media directorate invites the good people of Kogi state and Nigerians to disregard in its entirety, the publication on Sahara Reporters and treat it as another watery propaganda from their stable.”

The statement also admonished the APC to stop trying to engage in a needless and fruitless media propaganda and to bury their heads in shame for legitimizing the fraud they call election.

The statement also said that Nigerians were not unaware of what transpired in the Kogi state November 11 election where rigging was taken to a whole new legendary and scientific level.

It added that no amount of propaganda, schemings and blackmail would deter Sen. Melaye from fighting the good course in Nigeria.