by Alexander O. Onukwue

INEC received the petition for the recall of Dino Melaye, together with six bags containing the over 180,000 signatures of Kogi West electorates.

The bags were, of course, mostly Ghana-must-Go bags, and in Nigerian political parlance, those only ever contain one thing. We know bottles are used to sell kerosene in rural communities but that was not the original content, right?

Even the most ardent of persons who want to see Melaye given the boot from parliament would hardly admit that the people of Kogi West have gone about this very tasking and resource-intensive business of recall on their own. So that when Dino alleges that the Governor Yahaya Bello is the orchestrator of his planned downfall, it should be about the only truth that the Senator can be given credit for telling in a long while.

The accidental Kogi Governor, like many of his compatriots in other states, still owes salaries of up to 15 months, threatens and detains journalists, gives the impression that he is larger-than-life (wears dark shades in closed spaces), and is generally not a jolly good fellow.

That said, Dino Melaye’s return could be plotted by the KGB and Vladimir Putin himself and no one could be bothered. The man has had his time throwing dirt from hallowed places, and it has caused the people of Kogi and Nigerians as a whole more embarrassments than good.

Is it within Bello’s rights to prompt and motivate the people of Kogi West to change their Senator? There is no law against that. Being the Governor of the State whose concerns it is to deliver good governance to the entire people of Kogi including those in Kogi West, it is arguable that the quality of representation provided by Dino Melaye in the Federal Legislature somehow makes a translation in the lives of those under Bello’s authority in Kogi.

Bello may have employed the machineries (not State funds, hopefully) of his power to fuel this Melaye recall, but this is one political bad belle that is likely to unite most Nigerians, for once.

Editor