"Former Blind Man and Tree Climber" – Wike’s Aide Drags Dino Melaye Over APC Regret

The political feud between former Kogi West Senator Dino Melaye and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a sharp twist after Lere Olayinka, the media aide to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, publicly mocked Melaye on social media.

Melaye, while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, expressed deep regret over his past support for the APC, saying:

“I regret supporting APC. I was blind then, now I can see.”

Melaye, who contested the 2023 Kogi governorship election under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has continued to criticise the APC-led government, claiming the country is in worse shape under their rule.

However, Olayinka was not having it. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he ridiculed the former senator, calling him a "former blind man" and “tree climber” — a reference to a viral moment during Melaye's past political antics.

“Dino Melaye: ‘I regret supporting APC, I was blind then, now I can see,’”
“ME: Good morning this evening FORMER BLIND MAN Dino Melaye, the TREE CLIMBER.”

Olayinka didn’t stop there. He also questioned Melaye’s credibility, referencing the widely circulated claim that Melaye did not vote during the very election he contested as a gubernatorial candidate.

“Was it the same blindness that made you not vote in your own governorship election?” Olayinka wrote.
“How person go dey house dey do social media content instead of voting on the day of his own election?”

Melaye’s critics have long accused him of political inconsistency, having moved between parties — from PDP to APC in 2015 and back to PDP before the 2019 elections.

The back-and-forth is another chapter in Nigeria’s increasingly personal and drama-filled political space, where verbal jabs are as common as policy statements.

Whether or not Melaye’s regret resonates with Nigerians, one thing is clear — the political heat is far from over.