Dino Melaye Makes Last-Ditch Effort To Stop Kogi Supplementary Poll

In a last-minute move to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission from proceeding with the Kogi West Senatorial supplementary election, PDP candidate, Dino Melaye, has written a third petition to INEC chairman, Yakubu Mahmud, on why the election scheduled for November 30 should not hold.

Melaye, on Friday, shared acknowledged copies of the petition on his social media accounts.

In the petition dated November 28 and acknowledged by INEC on November 29, Melaye’s lawyers informed Mahmud of the “urgent need to maintain status quo” in the supplementary election.

The PDP candidate noted that the rerun election that was held on November 16 was “marred by widespread violence, gunshots, killing, snatching of ballot boxes, and several electoral malpractices and irregularities” leading to the declaration of the election as inconclusive by INEC and the subsequent call for supplementary election on November 30.

Melaye, who had earlier submitted two petitions to INEC over the rerun election, said “Unfortunately, certain polling units and wards where the re run elections were cancelled were not included in the elections register for the suppletory elections scheduled to take place on the 30^th November, This caused our client to write a letter to the Commission on the 18^th of November, 2019 calling for the cancellation of the rerun for the Kogi West Senatorial District conducted by the Commission of the 16^th November, 2019 but no action has been taken by the Commission to either set up a panel or adhoc committee to urgently look into the situation.”

Meanwhile, about two weeks ago, after the rerun election, the PDP candidate had submitted 21 video clips to INEC to prove that the election was allegedly rigged.

In his latest petition to the INEC chairman, Melaye said he filed “motions for an interim and interlocutory injunction restraining the Commission from proceeding with the supplementary election” at the Federal High Court because INEC refused to attend to his appeal.

The two motions filed by the senator were for “(1)an order of interim injection restraining the defendant, its privies, agents, proxies, fronts, staffers, or hirelings howsoever called from conducting the supplementary election for the few polling units in the Kogi West Senatorial District of Kogi State, scheduled to hold on 30^th November, 2019 pending the hearing and determination of the Motion of Notice for Interlocutory Injunction.

“(2) And Such further order or orders as the honourable court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.”

Melaye informed the INEC Chairman that the case had been assigned to the Justice Ekwo of the Federal High Court 5, Abuja for hearing.

He added that, “as the matter is before the court, you are expected to maintain status quo ante bellum until the matter is determined by the court.”

Meanwhile, the scheduled supplementary election will see APC candidate, Smart Adeyemi who earlier polled 80,118 votes in the rerun and Melaye who got 59,548, battle for the Kogi West Senatorial Election.