The former senator for Kogi West, Dino Melaye, stressed on Wednesday that Atiku Abubakar will not interfere with his pursuit of governorship while distancing himself from the 2023 PDP presidential candidate.

Melaye claimed that those who associate Atiku with his desire to become governor of Rivers State are being paid by the governor to cast the former vice president in a negative light.

"It's politically undermining my personality to say that Atiku Abubakar was trying to force me on the Kogi people; that is undermining my political sagacity and maturity," Melaye said in an interview with Arise Television.

“We have to keep Atiku completely out of this. I became a member of the House of Representatives; did Atiku influence that?

“Ive been elected twice to the Senate. Did Atiku influence that? But those who want to call a dog a bad name in order to hang it will make a lot of insinuations. Atiku is not interfering with the preparations for the PDP primaries in Kogi State.

“Those hired guns paid by Wike to address press conferences are just doing that for their pay; the process is going correctly, and nothing has changed.”