The dust settled and the results came in on Saturday. Ademola Adeleke, younger brother of late Osun senator, Isiaka Adeleke won in the by-election in Osun West senatorial district. Adeleke, who ran under the PDP umbrella, defeated APC candidate Mudashiru Hussein with 97, 480 votes in nine local governments out of 10.

We bring you the winners and losers from the elections:

WINNERS

PDP: Just when we thought the party had completely lost its grip of the South West, it rose again like a phoenix from its ashes. Osun state is solidly held by the ruling APC and it was almost uncertain that the PDP would smell anything close to victory.

This new development signals new possibilities for the PDP in the coming gubernatorial election in the state and as the party’s National Chairman said, “the era of blatant impunity is over and no form of indiscipline or distractions will be tolerated in the party”.

Ademola Adeleke: In the most unsurprising move, Ademola Adeleke after contesting and winning in the APC primary elections, defected to the opposition party, PDP. Was that a smart move? We know what the answer is now.

After his defection, Adeleke clinched the PDP ticket to run the race after an unanimous withdrawal by the other two aspirants in the party. Adeleke left the APC on the basis of inconsistencies in the primaries. He described it as “political caricature, and antics of manipulation”.

Deji Adeleke: The third Adeleke brother has the last laugh with this victory. In the heat of the campaign, Adeleke had been referred to as a mad man by Osun governor, Rauf Aregbesola. He said, “Deji Adeleke is a business man, he is not a politician but it is like his brother’s death has run him mad…” Well…

LOSERS

Rauf Aregbesola: The outcome of the Osun by-election marks a major loss especially for the state governor. “It will be an exercise in futility for anybody to now want to wake up a dead horse through the July 8 Osun West Senatorial bye election when founding fathers of the party have not only deserted the party but wouldn’t want to associate with it”, were his words of confidence to the Osun electorate.

Aregbesola is popular in his state and it goes without saying that the people of Osun have turned against him and his party. Aregbesola may also have gotten the message crystal clear with his message, “Democracy has won and we respect the people’s choice”.

Senator Mudashiru Hussain: Aregbesola’s candidate, Hussain failed to pull any weight in the election and was humiliated. He had faced battles relating to his screening and primaries prior to this election. To now be massively defeated by a candidate who is relatively a newbie in politics makes Hussain a major loser.

APC: The party now has several more reasons to tighten its belt ahead of forthcoming elections. The electorate alone possesses the power to vote out a party that will not deliver on promises and we’ve seen it with this election.