Kogi Guber: All You Need To Know About PDP Governorship Candidate, Dino Melaye

Senator, Dino Melaye is the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the November 11 election in Kogi State.

The former senator, who was a member of the 8th National Assembly representing Kogi West Senatorial district, is jostling to take over from the incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello in January 2024 with other top Guber candidates.

They include: All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Ododo Ahmed Usman; Leke Abejide of African Democratic Congress (ADC); Okeme Adejoh of the Labour Party and Tanimu Idris for New Nigerian People Party, (NNPP).

Dino emerged the governorship candidate of the PDP after he polled 313 votes to defeat his closest rival, Jabiru Usman, who polled 127 votes.

BIRTH & BACKGROUND

Born in Kano State in January, 1974, Melaye (43) hails from Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

He is undoubtedly one of the most controversial politicians in Nigeria today who’s known as the “singing senator’ following a viral clip of him singing on social media.

Education

Dino Melaye attended Abdulaziz Attah Memorial College, Okene, for his secondary school education before heading to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to obtain a degree in geography in 2000.

POLITICAL HISTORY

Dino Melaye started as an influential student union leader in his university days as a  prominent member of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)

He later served as the Secretary-General of the African Youth Council and the Commonwealth Youth Council and was appointed as the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on Youths by the then president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Melaye joined partisan politics in 2007 when he was elected to the National House of Representatives to represent Kabba/Ijumu federal constituency under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2011 general elections.

He lost his reelection to the National Assembly as a House of Representatives member but would later return to the house as a Senator in 2015, representing Kogi West.

He was pivotal in the nomination of Senator Bukola Saraki to emerge as the President of the Senate in 2015.

As a senator, Melaye served as the Chairman Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. He also chaired the Senate Committee on Aviation at a point before his exit from the distinguished house.

Dino was reelected to the senate in 2019 but would later be caught up in a ruling of a court injunction that annulled his election process and declared a rerun.

His opponent, senator Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressive Congress (APC), won the rerun and was declared the winner, making Dino lose his seat in the red chamber.

Marriage

Dino was formerly married to Tokunbo Melaye, who later filed for a divorce accusing Dino of subjecting her to a series of domestic abuses.

However, it was reported that Dino had a child with Nollywood actress Bisi Ibidapo Obe and another with Alero Falope, his housemaid.