The Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, has picked the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) nomination forms for the Kogi State governorship election.
Similarly, another aspirant, Abubakar Suleiman, also picked the nomination documents for the Kogi election billed to hold on November 16.
The duo picked their nomination documents at the Abuja national secretariat of the PDP on Thursday.
Addressing journalists shortly after the nomination formalities, Melaye his decision to contest the election was informed by the agitation, clarion call and passion from people of Kogi state.
“The ambition is not mine but that of the people of Kogi state. There is the dire need to recover our state which has been completely battered, shattered and destroyed.
“Today, the magnitude and intensity of killings in Kogi State surpassed any other time in the history of our state. The state has never experienced such insecurity before.
“I have looked for people who believe that the welfare of workers of Kogi State is the basic priority of government and people who believe that security and the welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government and all these we will achieved
“Unemployment is on the high side. Retrenchment, sack and non-payment of salaries and pension are now a tradition in Kogi State. The economy and the economic activities in Kogi State have completely depleted. I have heard the loud cry from the Almighty and he said,: who do I send and I said, send me,” Melaye said.
The controversial senator vowed to defeat Governor Yahaya Bello in the coming poll, saying, “We are resolutely determined to chase the mediocre in Lugard House.
“We are too sophisticated to have Yahaya Bello as a governor. We are too intellectually mobile to have a classless character like Yahaya Bello as governor.
“He never won an election. He is a coronated governor. Now for the first time, he is attempting to contest to be the governor through electioneering process. This is his first time and we will prove to him that we are masters in the game and we will separate the boys from the men”
Also speaking with journalists after picking his forms, Suleiman said Kogi is in dire need of change in leadership, stressing that things have deteriorated in the three-and-a-half years that Governor Yahaya Bello has been in the saddle.
Bemoaning the poor state of infrastructure and economy in the Kogi, Suleiman said workers have been reduced to beggars while victimisation and intimidation of the people had become the order of the day.
Stating his mission for joining the race, Suleiman said, “I have a priority policy document that I have worked on, which include: social infrastructure, fundamentals of government, physical responsibility and economic development.
“The policies are intertwined. For example economic development includes job creation; empowerment is related to physical infrastructure. My social infrastructure plans include health, schools and roads. All these will be given serious consideration”.
Recall that another aspirant, Dr Joseph Ameh had obtained his nomination documents for the Kogi governorship race on Tuesday.
