If Dino Melaye had his way, he’ll hack into the account of Urban Dictionary, which gave the meaning of Dino as “someone who’s heartless, selfish, possessive, and unfaithful” and changed it to something more pleasant.
Dino Melaye wouldn’t stop there. He’ll erase the below Dino example given by the website.
Dino: I love you…
Girl: How much?
Dino: That much that I would die for you…
And then Dino runs and tells another girl the same thing!
We present the biography of the former APC, now PDP stalwart, Dino Melaye.
Dino Melaye Birth
Dino Melaye was born on January 7th, 1974, in Kano state. He’s from Ayetoro Gbede in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi state, the same LGA as the musician, Ruger.
And his name is spelled Dino Melaye, not Dino Melaiye.
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Dino Melaye Education
We don’t know Dino Melaye’s nursery and primary schools. But he attended Abdul-Aziz Attah Memorial College, Okene, for his secondary school education.
He later spent close to a decade at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria studying a five-year course in geography. Before graduating in the year 2000, he led the school’s chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
Later, he became the secretary-general of the African Youth Council and the Commonwealth Youth Council.
Dino Melaye Political Career
Dino Melaye is a former Nigerian senator. He was a member of the 8th National Assembly, representing the Kogi West senatorial district. While there, he was the chair of the senate committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. He also had a brief spell as the head of the senate committee on Aviation.
Dino Melaye sponsored about 20 bills and moved over 30 motions while in the Senate. The most prominent were the bills he pushed for the establishment of a Federal University of Agriculture in Kabba.
Also, the one for prohibiting persons from lynching, mob action, and extrajudicial executions. He also sponsored the protection against domestic violence act and the disability integration bills.
Dino Melaye is a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He once defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015. He returned to PDP in the run into the 2019 elections.
Here’s a timeline of his political career.
Dino Melaye Political Career Timeline
2015 – elected a member of the Senate
2015 – seconded the nomination of Bukola Saraki as a candidate for the office of president of the senate. Ahmad Sani Yerima made the initial nomination
July 24th, 2018 – defected with 13 other senators of the APC to the PDP
February 23rd, 2019 – re-elected as a member of the 9th senate
August 23rd, 2019 – sacked by the election petitions tribunal; ordered a re-run election
October 11th, 2019 – lost his appeal to retain his senatorial seat
November 2019 – lost to Smart Adeyemi of the APC in an election that was later declared inconclusive by INEC. Violence and irregularities in about 50 Polling Units in the district were given as the reasons
November 30th, 2019 – lost the makeup election
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Dino Melaye Political Controversies and Scandals
Controversies and scandals trailed Dino Melaye’s four years stint at the National Assembly. Let’s do a recall of a few of the ignominies.
The country’s Code of Conduct Bureau bars the use of foreign accounts by elected and public officials.
However, Dino Melaye violated this law. It was alleged that he continued to operate current savings accounts with a bank in the United States. He denied the allegation despite evidence that included transaction dates, bank statements, card numbers, and the location of the deals.
On July 12th, 2016, Dino Melaye threatened to beat up and impregnate fellow senator Oluremi Tinubu. The two senators, who were members of the ruling APC, clashed during a closed-door Senate session. He admitted to the skirmish with the senator representing Lagos central. But he said he only hit back after she called him a thug and a dog.
Dino Melaye wasn’t dressed like a mugger nor with a puppy when he was arrested at the international wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport on April 23rd, 2018, by the operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). The agency claimed his name was on the watch list of Interpol after the Nigeria police declared him wanted.
Dino Melaye was arraigned in court by the police on May 2nd at Chief Magistrate Court in Wuse, Abuja. After meeting the bail condition, he was granted bail in the sum of N90 million. However, he was rearrested by the police shortly after his release.
His romance with the police continued. They laid a seven-day siege on his Maitama residence a few days after eating fried rice and chicken during Christmas. The police were on a revenge mission.
It was alleged that he was involved in the shooting of one of their own, Sergeant Danjuma Saliu, in July 2018. On January 4th, 2019, Dino Melaye surrendered to the police when the compulsory sitting at home wore him out.
On January 11th, 2019, the protesting and attention-hugging Dino Melaye was in the news again. He was captured sleeping on the veranda of the DSS hospital in Abuja.
Dino Melaye must have seen a lot of Nollywood movies that he shot on his own. In a bizarre tactic to evade a trial at a magistrate court in Abuja, Dino Melaye went missing for 11 hours. When he resurfaced, he alleged being kidnapped by unknown gunmen. It’s not a strong plot, but we’ve seen movies with less.
Still thinking he was Zubby Michaels, Dino Melaye tried to jump out of a moving police vehicle transporting him to a high court in Abuja. He was being charged for alleged gunrunning, and it was only logical for ‘leg running’ to come to his mind while in the vehicle.
He once ran his mouth by saying he had degree certificates from the London School of Economics and Harvard. Harvard came out to say he only took part in a workshop at the university. That he never earned a degree with them. LSE, too said there was no Dino or Melaye in their database.
While he’s no longer in an elected position, the once-a-senator-always-a-senator still carries on with his scandal-filled ways. He continues to stir up the media with lie-laden videos, statements, and activities.
Dino Melaye Personal Life
Dino Melaye is currently single, but he was married to Tokunbo Melaye for a decade. She filed for divorce on the grounds of incessant battering and threats to life. She claimed he once pointed a gun at her head.
This is ironic for someone who once pushed for the protection against domestic violence act in the senate. Despite the tumultuous relationship, Tokunbo has three children with him.
Dino Melaye seems to love ‘away matches.’ It was reported that he had a child with Nollywood actress Bisi Ibidapo Obe and another with Alero Falope, his housemaid.
Dino Melaye Book
The grudge bearer and serial letter writer Olusegun Obasanjo once wrote a book on effective prayers. Dino Melaye, however, upped the ante by writing a book on corruption!
In May 2016, he released a book titled Antidotes for Corruption: The Nigerian Story. The backlash from the public was not unexpected, given his perceived reputation. The reactions increased when two known characters entangled in different corruption cases – Bukola Saraki and former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan – were the event’s top two guests.
The book was condemned for its poor syntax, as the word ‘antidotes’ was expected to take the preposition ‘to’ and not the ‘for’ used in the title. Some reviewers said the book has no original intellectual inputs and was a mere “cut and paste” of newspaper articles.
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Dino Melaye Net worth
Estimating the net worth of Dino Melaye, or any politician at that, does not require the assumption of Ceteris Paribus (with other things being the same) but its less illustrious antithesis Mutatis Mutandis (changing some factors that need to be changed).
We have to make or be perceived to be making necessary alterations to how wealth is gained while not affecting the main point, in this case, Dino Melaye’s net worth.
With an estimated net worth of $800 million, Dino Melaye is one of the richest politicians in Nigeria, and, according to him, he didn’t make his money from politics. In an interview with BBC pidgin, he said he made most of his money from investments he has with foreign companies like McDonald’s, an American fast-food outlet.
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Dino Melaye Cars
His garage looks like a car dealer’s workshop with cars, including the 2020 Lamborghini Aventador Roadstar, Porsche Panamera, Range Rover, Bentley Continental, Mercedes G Wagon, Chevrolet Corvette, and Rolls Royce.
Let’s take his McDonald’s words for it because going by the remuneration approved by Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the annual take-home (excluding travel allowance and some sundry allowances which they are paid as necessary), a Nigerian senator earns N19.66 million annually.
This means Dino Melaye would have to be in the Senate for at least 12 years and spend no dime of his earnings to afford a Rolls Royce. He spent four years in the Senate.
Before joining the upper chambers in 2015, Dino Melaye was in the House of Representatives for four years between 2007 and 2011, earning even less, legitimately.
Dino Melaye House
He reportedly owns fascinating houses in and outside the country, the most prominent being his mansion in Abuja.
Dino Melaye Private jet
With Dino Melaye’s flamboyant lifestyle, assuming he has a private jet wouldn’t be out of place. He doesn’t have one at the moment, though.
Conclusion
Like him or hate him, Dino Melaye remains an enigma who would have done well in entertainment, especially acting and showbiz. Expect more drama from him after we witnessed the 2023 general elections.
