Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has berated the senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly, Dino Melaye, over his comment on the governor’s choice of a wife, describing him as “childish” lawmaker who “cannot maintain a matrimonial home.”
While contributing on the floor of the Senate on the need for Nigerians to patronise made-in-Nigeria products on Wednesday, Melaye had reportedly made reference to Oshiomhole’s marriage to his Cape Verdean wife, Iara, urging Nigerians to focus on “made-in-Nigeria women”.
“We will also move in order to encourage made-in-Nigeria products and begin to talk about made-in-Nigeria women,” he said.
“Apologies to my uncle, the Governor of Edo State, we must as a people stop paying dowries in dollars and pounds,” he had said.
But Oshiomhole accused Melaye of lunching an unprovoked assault and delving into a matter as confidential as his marriage to his heartthrob, even as a member of the All Progressives Congress.
He also berated the senator for regarding women as “pieces of items for sale,” a statement which he said was not only disparaging but disappointing.
The governor, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Peter Okhiria, said, “As a ‘nephew’ of the governor and members of the same party, we expected Senator Melaye to tender an unreserved public apology to the Comrade Governor, to no avail.
“It is an open secret that Senator Melaye cannot maintain a decent matrimonial home, hence he could descend to this pedestrian level of using the hallowed chambers to ‘cargorise’ women as if they were pieces of items for purchase.
“Any responsible individual that is truly worthy to be called a senator, a position that convokes respect, decorum and decent public conduct, should know the limits of his verbal diarrhea.
“The liberty of free speech guaranteed in the hallowed chambers does not impose lunacy on anyone to disparage other Nigerians, let alone pry into their matrimony in a very derisive manner. We had intended to ignore this uncomplimentary comment as one of the several empty displays of the senator, but the fact that it tends to reduce women to pieces of tissue calls for this response.”
“As we probed into Dino Melaye’s humanity, we were reminded that he is a man known for his vainglorious rodomontade and the childish display of his ostentatious lifestyle complements his love for foreign items.
“Many of such euro-centric mentality he has persistently displayed on social media, to underscore his materialistic eccentricity, hence his dialectical opposition to made-in-Nigeria goods. But an attempt at making women wear the garb of goods to be picked off the shelves was to take the issue to a ridiculous and irresponsible level.”
Oshiomhole said that by delving into his private affair and marriage, “Melaye has exposed himself as a simpleton and a court jester whose words and tactlessness cannot be taken seriously by matured people.”
“We advise that Melaye should mend his ways with his ex-wife and concubines before coming to the village square to display his crass ignorance and emptiness to the Nigerian people.
“If he has anything to offer, Dino Melaye should concentrate on making good laws for the people of Nigeria rather than descend to a ridiculous level, thus displaying to the whole world his unworthiness to sit in the hallowed chambers of the Nigerian Senate.”
Follow Us
