Dino Melaye: My loyalty to Atiku won’t stop me from criticising him

Dino Melaye, ex-Kogi west senator, says his loyalty to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar does not mean he cannot criticise him.

Melaye spoke on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme while addressing perceptions that he blindly follows the former vice-president.

The former senator, who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said he has his own political convictions.

He added that his long-standing relationship with Atiku does not make him a political appendage.

“I am not a teen, and I’ve won elections in this country to the house of representatives, to the senate. If there’s convergence of ideology with Atiku Abubakar, it’s a fantastic thing, but I am a man of my own,” Melaye said.

“By the grace of God, I have an indestructible relationship with Atiku Abubakar, but that does not mean I don’t have principles as a human being… When Atiku is not doing the right things, I will say so.”

The former Kogi governorship candidate also said the ADC is working towards fielding a presidential candidate to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

According to him, Nigerians should view the ADC as a platform for those seeking to move the country in a better direction.

“Those of us in the ADC need to create a comfortable, stable platform. And I believe that platform will produce a candidate that will unseat President Ahmed Bola Tinubu in 2027,” he said.

“Why Nigerians should think differently about the ADC is that once there’s an altar called in the church of God—only those who are emotionally affected, have a conscience, and are ready to leave darkness and move into light respond. So, ADC is a national altar call.

“Not everybody in ADC is a saint, but what I’m telling you is that everybody who moved into ADC is concerned about Nigeria.

“We want to see a Nigeria where we’ll be able to answer questions from our grandchildren who will ask us, when we’re 90 and toothless, ‘When Nigeria was being destroyed, Grandpa, what did you do?’ We want to be able to say we did A, B, C, and D.”

In the build-up to the 2023 election, the former vice-president, who was the PDP flagbearer, appointed Melaye as his campaign spokesperson.