The senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Sen. Dino Melaye, has denied reports that he was among lawmakers that booed President Muhammadu Buhari when the president presented the 2019 Appropriation Bill before a joint session of the National Assembly late 2018.
Melaye, who is currently in police custody over alleged attempted culpable homicide, issued the rebuttal in a statement through his media aide, Gideon Ayodele.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator issued the statement after social media reports said he was being victimised for joining other lawmakers to boo Buhari on December 19.
But Melaye disclosed that he was compelled to issue the statement not out of fear but to set the record straight.
The statement read, “The attention of Senator Dino Melaye has been drawn to a malicious reference to his person on the social media as one of the lawmakers who booed President Muhammadu Buhari during his 2019 Budget presentation before a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 19, 2018.
“Before now, he (Melaye) had refused to refute the mischievous social media fabrication for what it is — a cheap lie — Senator Dino Melaye was not in the National Assembly that day.
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“For the avoidance of doubt, Distinguished Senator Dino Melaye was absent at the televised 2019 budget presentation session and hereby challenges anyone with contrary proof to come forward with such.”
The senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, Sen. Shehu Sani, also corroborated Melaye’s claim that he was not on the floor of the National Assembly when the president was booed and so could not have joined in.
Sani, who took to his verified Twitter handle on Sunday, said, “Senator Dino was not present on the day the President presented the budget to the Joint parliamentary session.”
See tweet:
Senator Dino was not present on the day the President presented the budget to the Joint parliamentary session.
— Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) January 6, 2019