Former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, has said that although former presidential candidate Peter Obi is a remarkable Nigerian, the time is not right for him to become the country’s president.
Melaye made the remark on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television, where he spoke about leadership and the future of Nigeria’s political landscape.
According to him, Obi possesses admirable qualities but may not yet have the capacity required to unite the country at this moment.
“Peter Obi is a fantastic Nigerian. I have tremendous respect for him and I’ve said it before, he is a fantastic person, but this is not his time to be President,” Melaye said.
Melaye, who previously represented Kogi West in the Senate, also recalled his political journey after leaving the National Assembly. He had contested the Kogi State governorship election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but lost to the incumbent governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo.
In a separate comment, Melaye criticised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over its opposition to the real-time electronic transmission of election results.
In a post shared on his 𝕏 (formerly Twitter) page, the former senator described the party’s position as contradictory, noting that it promotes electronic registration for party members while resisting electronic transmission of election results.
“With 31 governors, they are still afraid,” he wrote, questioning why a politically dominant party would resist reforms aimed at improving transparency in elections.
Melaye also warned that the ruling party could face internal crisis if it continues to resist electoral reforms.
His remarks come amid protests in Abuja and across social media following the decision by the Senate to remove the clause mandating real-time electronic transmission of election results from the amended Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
Civil society organisations, youth groups and opposition leaders have argued that removing the provision could weaken electoral transparency and increase the risk of post-election manipulation.
TRUETELLS Nigeria reports.
