Dino Melaye condemns Kogi election

Melaye, who finished third in the Kogi governorship race on November 11, called the process dishonorable and said there was a significant manipulation of the results against him.On Monday, November 13, 2023, the governorship candidate said that the INEC chairman is the primary cause of Nigeria's democratic crisis during an appearance on Channels TV's "Politics Today."

Melaye, who received 46,362 votes in the gubernatorial contest, charged Yakubu with orchestrating his defeat.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) flag-bearer, Usman Ododo, emerged victorious in the gubernatorial contest against the PDP nominee with 446,237 votes.

Melaye stated during her speech on the show, "There was simply the distribution of votes by INEC, and I will demonstrate this right now. It's terrible that Mahmood Yakubu, who has children, and his fellow travelers would exhibit the kind of satanism that occurred in Kogi yesterday. I feel sorry for this nation and the people of Kogi State. The election is abhorrent.

As a politician, he claimed to have witnessed several forms of election tampering, including as the falsification of results and the theft of ballots, but he had never witnessed the purported electoral manipulations that occurred in Kogi on Saturday.

“I have never seen this kind of fraud in my life, I’ve seen rigging, I've seen inflation of results, I’ve seen snatching of ballot papers but what we saw yesterday is legendary, it’s shameful. Mahmood Yakubu must cancel the election in Kogi state, go and check the backend results, it is disgraceful.”

Melaye responded that he is a certified private investigator when asked how he obtained the backend findings from the INEC server.He said his votes were manipulated so he would finish third in the race for governor.

Melaye stated that he has provided the electoral body with his petition and supporting documentation, and he has given the commission seven days to consider it.