The delegates in his constituency, the Kogi West Senatorial District voted for his rival Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf who was said to be a loyalist of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state.
Dino Melaye was only able to garner 99 votes while his opponent, Yusuf, who currently represents Kabba/Bunu Ijumu Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, had 163 votes.
The contest went into a rerun after both aspirants had 88 votes each on Monday.
But at the rerun on Tuesday, Tajudeen Yusuf (TJ) was able to secure a majority of the votes.
While Tajudeen Yusuf (TJ) was rooting for Nyesom Wike in the state, Dino Melaye was backing Atiku Abubakar, turning the game into a royal rumble of two influential presidential candidates of the party.
TJ however was able to draw sympathy from the camp of the former governor Ibrahim Idris whose favourite candidate, Sam Aro, polled 72 votes on the first run of the senate primary on Monday.
The Sam Aro bloc vote swung the election in favour of TJ Yusuf and permanently sealed Dino Melaye’s fate as far as his 2023 Senatorial ambition is concerned.
Dino Melaye is a former senator. In 2015, he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the PDP but returned to PDP in the buildup to the 2019 elections after months of political tussle with the incumbent Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello.
Reacting to his loss, Dino Melaye said he conceded but the gang up against him in the party is unimaginable.
“The Primary has been fought and won. I congratulate Hon. T.J YUSUF and thank all those who voted in the first and second ballot for me. The Gang up is unimaginable but l give God praise. God bless you all. SDM,” he posted on Facebook shortly after the primary elections was concluded.
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