A former Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, has broken his silence on why he threw his weight behind former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, instead of his longtime political friend, Bukola Saraki, in the just concluded Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s Presidential primary contest.
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Melaye said this while featuring on TVC’s current affairs programme, Journalists’ Hangout, where he also expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the exercise.
The former lawmaker, who predicted a landslide victory for Atiku in the 2023 general election, said the convention produced the best candidate to carry the PDP flag in a free and fair contest that every contestants was proud of.
On why he decided to dump Saraki for Atiku, Melaye explained that supporting the former Vice President doesn't mean he has switched support.
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He said, “I did not switch support from Saraki to Atiku. I was 100 per cent with Saraki when I was with him. I have no problem with Saraki, I still saw him this morning and we both laughed together.
“I chose Atiku this time because I have to stay with the known to the unknown. At this time, we need a unifier, who can unite Nigeria. One who cannot be seen as a Muslim, or Christian. Atiku is a popular person whose name is known every in Nigeria. So I moved from unknown to known. So, I did not switch support but support the man who can make Nigeria great,” Melaye said.
Reacting to the allegation of betrayal by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, against the Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, the former Kogi lawmaker is of the opinion that, “Governor Tambuwal saw the necessity to elect a candidate that can unite Nigeria because our dear nation needs a father figure who can unite everyone. Someone who will be able to unite Nigeria and that person is Atiku Abubakar.
“Alhaji Atiku is sound and healthy, politically sagacious and intellectually sound. Atiku will not fail, he will win by a landslide. Whatever APC is going to do in terms of manipulation, Atiku is the next president of Nigeria. Our convention has shown that we are more united than ever. We are on big family,” he added.
Recall that Melaye lost his bid to return to the Senate in 2023 after suffering a defeat in the PDP primary election.
![FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State. [DailyTrust/Facebook]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State. [DailyTrust/Facebook]")