Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says Sen. Dino Melaye lacks the prerequisites to be elected the governor of Kogi State.

Wike said Melaye, who represented Kogi West Senatorial District in the 8th Senate, does not have what it takes to vie for the governorship position.

The governor said this in an interview with journalists in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Tuesday, April 11.

He stressed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would lose the November 2023 gubernatorial election in Kogi State if Melaye emerged as the party’s candidate.

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Governor Wike, who accused the party’s leadership of trying to manipulate the PDP primaries in favour of Melaye, said: “When you give Dino that ticket, you know he won’t win in Kogi State.

“Why would Kogi people say they would vote for a candidate like Dino? Are we joking?

“Dino does not have what it takes (to be a governor) for crying out loud. He knows me very well. He does not have what it takes to be a governor.

“Does it mean now that if the PDP wants to win the election, it would give the ticket to Dino and you say tomorrow that you were rigged when you have already killed yourself?.

“Are we saying that we want to win an election or just have a candidate?” he stated.

Governor Wike added that he won’t campaign for the PDP if the party gives its governorship ticket to the former senator.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in 2022, announced November 11, 2023, for the conduct of governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states.

The Star