Petition against me signed by only three persons, not 188,000 – Melaye

The representative of Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, on Monday raised the alarm that the petition presented by the Independent National Electoral Commission against him in court was only signed by three persons as against over 188,000 registered voters envisaged by the constitution.
Melaye, who briefed newsmen in Abuja over his purported recall from the Senate, said the planned recall is dead on arrival.
He explained that he is not evading the service of any purported petition on him by the electoral body, disclosing that he has already served on INEC a notice to produce the said petition, which the electoral umpire failed to do.
He insisted that Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and a former representative of Kogi West Senatorial District, Senator Smart Adeyemi, are behind his purported recall because of his stance on payment of all salaries owed workers in the state.
The statement reads in part: “I, Senator Dino Melaye, is not evading the service of any purported petition on me by INEC. As a matter of fact, my lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN, served on INEC, a notice to produce the said petition in the course of the hearing of this matter, INEC failed, refused and neglected to produce the said petition in court.
“I, Senator Dino Melaye, have also instructed my lawyer to challenge the jurisdiction of the trial court to entertain an ex party application for the service on me, not of any court process, but of the very, which INEC itself had failed to give to me, or to produce in court after due notice to produce same was served on it.
“My lawyer has filed the objection which ought to be determined before the trial court could hear the said strange exparte application. It is curious to note that, even the trial judge never saw this petition surprisingly, he replied on the in house analysis purported carried out by INEC in court, was only signed by three persons as against 188,000 plus registered voters envisage by the constitution.
“That in view of the lapse of time, I shall no longer be in a haste to take any further step in this matter so as not to be seen to have aided any party, especially the INEC, in the continued blatant breach of the provisions of the Constitution which I have sworn to uphold.”