Dino Melaye reacts from hospital bed after failed recall

A hospitalised Dino Melaye on Sunday thanked his constituents for rejecting attempts to recall him from Senate, saying evil will never triumph.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared in the early hours of Sunday that the recall exercise on Saturday had failed after electorate overwhelmingly sat at home.

At least 51 percent of voters are required to verify their signatures for the recall process to move to the next stage, but only five percent of registered voters turned out.

Mr Melaye spoke from the National Hospital where he had been receiving treatment since Tuesday after he reportedly jumped out of a moving police vehicle and sustained injuries.

“Thank you my people. God bless you all. Thank you for the confidence reposed on me. I will not let you down. I will always stand by the truth and the people at all times. God bless Kogi West,” Mr Melaye said in a Twitter update an hour ago.

“Every lie has an expiry date. Forces of evil will never triumph over forces of light. God is with us,” he added.

The senator’s victory has been widely seen as a major setback and humiliation for Governor Yahaya Bello, whom Mr Melaye had repeatedly accused of being behind his recall and other political attacks in recent months.

Mr Bello had denied the allegations, and his spokespersons did not immediately respond to PREMIUM TIMES requests seeking comments about the outcome of the recall Sunday morning.