You might have missed it, but Nigeria’s Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, recently had their National Convention. A new working committee was elected under the backdrop of infighting and court battles. But in all of this chaos, one name stood out, Dino Melaye. The former Kogi senator appeared on television professing the party’s strength. This had us wondering, could Dino Melaye be Nigeria’s next president.
Dino Melaye was born on 1 January 1974, making him 47. This would make him Nigeria's youngest presidential candidate from a major party. To put this in perspective, Nigeria's current president is Muhammadu Buhari is 78, and his likely successor, former Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu is 69.
Dino Melaye graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he studied geography. During this time Dino served as a Student union leader. In 2017 Dino also studied Law at the Baze University in the Federal Capital Territory.
As far as political experience goes Dino Melaye was once a member of the House of Representatives, however, he was suspended in 2010 following his involvement in a physical altercation that took place in the House of Reps. In 2015 he was elected as the senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District. He was re-elected on 23 February 2019 to return as a senator. However, the Election Petitions Tribunal annulled the election and ordered a re-run election on 23 August 2019. A make-up Election was fixed for 30 November 2019, with the APC’s Smart Adeyemi winning the election.
He also made a bid for governor in 2019 but was unable to obtain his party’s nomination.
Dino the celebrity
Dino’s social profile is massive. At the time of writing he has 2.1 million Instagram followers, this is compared to Mr Tinubu’s 25k. He’s recently transitioned into Hollywood, and has songs on Spotify and all major outlets. More recently he was a recipient of the skit award. Undeniably Dino connects with an audience his competitors fail to reach, and he is aware of this.
The policies
Looking at Dino’s legislative background during his time in office he seemed to take an anti-corruption, and approach to pro-inclusion approach to the bills he supported. Most notably he was active in putting forward:
1. Economic and Financial Crime Commission (Establishment, etc) Bill 2015
2. Disability Integration Bill 2015 (SB. 95)
3. Protection Against Domestic Violence Act (Amendment) Bill 2015
6. Lobbying Disclosure Act (Amendment) Bill 2015
7. Anti-Jungle Justice Bill 2015 (SB. 109), passed
8. Price Control and anti protesting Bill 2015 (SB 110)
10. Lobbying (Regulations) Bill 2016 (SB. 258) 2nd READING
11. National Orientation Agency Act (Amendment) Bill 2016 (SB. 333)
12. Residency Right for every citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Bill 2016 (AB. 356) 1ST READING
14. Facial Mutilation Prohibition Bill 2016 (SB. 408) passed 2nd reading\
15. Ethnic and Religious Hatred Bill 2017 (SB. 420)
The conclusion
With Nigeria experiencing record levels of inflation, and insecurity there’s an argument that change is needed. Whether Dino is what that change looks like is a different question. It’s hard to tell what his economic policies would be, however, he recently told the BBC that he owned a string of McDonald’s franchises, so arguably he does have some business experience. But let us know what you think. Do you think Dino would be a good president? Continue the conversation over on the NoirMarche app, and in the comments section.
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