Concise News had reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer of the election, Professor Olajide Lawal, on Saturday announced Adeyemi as the winner of the exercise.
Lawal said that Senator Adeyemi polled a total of 88,373 votes to beat his main rival, Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 62,133 votes.
The INEC official added that Ambassador Rufus Aiyenigba of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) came third in the poll with 659 votes and was trailed by John Olabode and Adeyemi Taiwo of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Nigeria Elements Progressive Party (NEPP who) garnered 262 and 119 votes respectively.
The commission thereafter declared the APC candidate as the winner of the keenly contested election two weeks after the people of the senatorial district went to the poll.
Reacting to the victory, Oshiomhole in a statement on Saturday described the victory as “well-deserve” and thanked the people of the senatorial district for their support for the party and its candidate.
The APC chairman also berated the PDP candidate, Senator Dino Melaye for allegedly destabilising the ruling party’s democracy for his personal interest and jettisoning the interest of the electorate
The statement reads:
“I congratulate our newly elected Senator, Smart Adeyemi on his well-deserved victory in the Kogi West re-run election which held today.
“This victory has again affirmed the general acceptance of our great party, by the great people of Kogi State who just a few weeks ago voted massively for our governorship candidate, Governor Yahaya Bello, who was re-elected for a second term.
“I have always believed in the ability of the people of Kogi West to elect leaders who will make them proud in the Senate and not the defeated Senator Melaye who is among the 16 Senators who rebelled against our party.
“As it stands today, the broom has swept away the entire 16 Senators, Dino being the last, who tried to destabilise our democracy for their personal interest, jettisoning the interest of the electorate.
“On behalf of our great party the APC, I congratulate my brother and friend, Senator Smart Adeyemi once again and we look forward toward working with you in this resolve by our dear President, Muhammadu Buhari to take the nation to the NEXT LEVEL.”