MELAYE’S
CONTROVERSIES AND THE POLICE MAKOSA DANCE
Senator Dino Melaye has conspicuously
emerged a household name not just in the National Assembly (NASS) but in the
contemporary Nigerian polity. The outspoken legislator who is currently
representing the constituents of Kogi West Senatorial District in the eighth
assembly, has for quite some time now, been controversially dominating the
banner headlines of most dailies domiciled in the country.
Not many Nigerian politicians can boast
of being in the mould of Sen. Melaye. Not so much for the many bills and
motions he had thus far sponsored but for many controversies that have dogged
his political personage.
On Tuesday, 12th July 2016,
the lawmaker had in a closed-door plenary of the Red Chamber of the NASS,
unequivocally abused his female colleague – Oluremi Tinubu – over some remarks
made against his person by the latter. It’s noteworthy that Mrs. Tinubu is the
lovely spouse of a national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC), Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu.
It was gathered that the two senators’
clash was informed by the request made by the Kogi senator on the floor of the
hallowed chamber. Sen. Melaye – an ardent supporter of the Senate President,
Bukola Saraki – had enjoined the Senate to deal mercilessly with its honourable
members who had offered to serve as prosecution witnesses in the ongoing
forgery case against Sen. Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.
Mrs. Tinubu, who was reportedly among those Mr.
Melaye was pointing accusing fingers at, rose up in anger and began to react
furiously to the latter’s demand. In the process, the altercation almost
resulted in a physical combat after the Kogi legislator said to her face “I
will beat you, impregnate you and nothing will happen”. The melodrama
subsequently metamorphosed into a ‘war’ between Melaye and Ashiwaju Tinubu.
Way back in 2007, barely four months
after he was elected into the NASS – House of Representatives precisely – where
he represented Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu/ Federal Constituency of Kogi State, Sen. Melaye
filtered into the news for the wrong reason.
At the peak of the crisis – on September
20, 2007 – that trailed the allegation that the then Speaker, Patricia Etteh
awarded N628 million contract to renovate her official residence and that of her
deputy, Babangida Nguroje in Apo Legislators’ Quarters, Abuja, Melaye
physically exchanged blows with two of his colleagues – Emmanuel Jime (Benue)
and Samuel Sejoro (Lagos) at the public sitting of the David Idoko-led panel
that investigated the alleged contract scam.
His ‘troublesome’ nature continued
unabated throughout his four-year tenure in the Green Chamber. For the next four
years (2011-2015) he was out of the legislature, Sen. Melaye went back to
activism. He floated the Anti-Corruption Network, which he used to campaign
against graft. One of the cases the group fought against was the one involving
a former Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah who allegedly purchased two BMW
armoured vehicles for N255 million while in office.
So, in 2015 when he found himself in the Red
Chamber, he apparently thought it wise to continue from where he stopped in the
NASS. Two years after his existence in the Senate, members of his constituency
– Kogi West – began a recall process against him.
The Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) had on Monday, 3rd July 2017, released the
time-table for the recall of Sen. Melaye, which was allegedly engineered by the
sitting Governor of Kogi State Alhaji Yahaya Bello perhaps as a result of the
political disagreement between the duo, following the receipt of recall
petitions purportedly signed by over 188,000 constituents from his senatorial
district, citing loss of confidence in their Senator.
Sen.
Melaye via his solicitor Mr. Mike Ozekhome consequently filed a suit at the
court, asking the jury to halt the recall bid, in which he alleged that even
dead bodies signed. On September 11, 2017, the Justice Nnamdi Dimgba-led jury
of the Federal High Court, Abuja dismissed the suit, hence the lawmaker headed
for the Supreme Court to seek for redress. Unfortunately, early this year, the
apex court upheld the recall move, mandating the INEC to continue with the
process.
Recently, the embattled legislator
alerted the police on an alleged serial plots to assassinate his person. In
addition, the women drawn from the seven LGAs of Kogi West Senatorial district
marched from the streets to the senator’s residence in Kogi State, conveying
their solidarity to him while accusing Gov. Bello of being behind the alleged
plot. The police, however, reportedly discovered that the information was false
after conducting investigations.
Sen. Melaye stated that the reason Gov.
Bello wanted him dead was because of his stand on the prolonged plight of the
state workers and retirees. It would be recalled that for over fifteen months,
the said governor refused to pay salaries and pensions in Kogi State, yet had
reportedly collected N20 billion and N11 billion from the Federal Government,
respectively as bailout fund and Paris Club refund.
On Monday, 23rd April 2018 –
at about 7.00am – on his way to Morocco for an official assignment, Sen. Melaye
was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja by the
personnel of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) who later claimed that the arrest was based on police instruction.
Intriguing, on that fateful day,
the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police laid siege to his
Abuja residence in spite of their earlier denial that they never instructed the NIS to arrest the lawmaker.
It’s worthy of note that, prior to the
arrest, the police recently declared Sen. Melaye wanted after the lawmaker was
accused of supplying arms to some murder suspects who allegedly implicated him.
The senator frantically denied the allegation. The police had, after the arrest
at the airport, stated that the legislator had earlier been invited on
different occasions for interrogations but he ignored the invitations.
On that same Monday, Sen. Melaye
reportedly jumped down from a moving police vehicle en route Lokoja, the Kogi
State capital while being detained by the SARS. It was gathered he was being
translocated to Lokoja to stand trial for the crimes relating to murder and
armed robbery he was accused of. The reaction by the embattled senator resulted
in his hospitalization on Tuesday, the following day.
I wonder why a serving senator would jumped out from a vehicle in motion. It's really absurd and disheartening that a Nigerian who supposed to act as a role model could performed such unthinkable drama.
The report had it that Melaye feared
that his life would be in danger if taken to Lokoja, owing to the perceived sinister
motives of both the police and the Kogi State government. It was further
reported that the case in question had already been transferred to the Abuja
High Court upon request of the accused senator.
The matters arising from Sen. Melaye’s
case are numerous. There are too many questions to be answered by the police.
First, why would a sitting senator be arrested on his way to a foreign country
for an official engagement? Secondly, why was his residence barricaded after
the arrest without any court order as if they just captured a roadside
criminal?
Thirdly, having transferred the case
from the Lokoja High Court to that of Abuja as we were told, what then prompted
the proposed translocation of the embattled lawmaker? Fourthly, why did the Inspector
General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris refused to answer the call of the
Senate for onward clarifications?
There are things the law enforcement
agency isn’t really telling us. Though I’ve faulted Melaye’s refusal to attend
to the police previous invitations for interrogations as alleged by the latter, I saw no
reason the sitting senator should be molested by them. Notwithstanding, if the legislator has a case to face in the law court, he should endeavor to do so since there's no immunity clause that overrides such proceeding.
It's noteworthy that, considering Sen.
Melaye’s obvious impact on the NASS, Kogi State as well as the Nigeria’s polity
at large in recent times, his recent arrest by the police was ostensibly
politically motivated.
Hence, as the embattled lawmaker dances this
makosa dance being played by the police, the latter needn’t be told that the
music is overheating the polity, hence the compelling need to call it a quit. Think
about it!
Comrade Fred Nwaozor
National Coordinator, Right Thinkers
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Twitter: @mediambassador
