The national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said the defeat of Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Kogi West senatorial district rerun election on Saturday has brought an end to the relics of the rebellious 16 senators that defected to the opposition PDP on the heels of the 2019 general elections.

The former governor of Edo state, who congratulated the Senator-elect, Smart Adeyemi, for emerging winner of Kogi West Senatorial rerun election, said their defeat would teach them how not to be ungrateful to the APC.

Oshiomhole said this in a statement he personally signed Saturday night in Abuja.

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.

“The 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.”

The Returning Officer, Olayinde Lawal, had declared Adeyemi winner at the end of the rerun on Saturday.

The APC candidate got 88,373 votes to defeat Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his closest challenger, who polled 62,133 votes.