The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State came out strong after the exit of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and his predecessor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, with a vow to dislodge the APC and retrieve the PDP mandate. But that dream seems to be in tatters now.

The chant of freedom rent the air as the electioneering progressed. To many observers, the state has never had a more invigorated opposition that is poised to challenge the status quo.

However, the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections changed the tune as the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the presidential seat and cleared all the National Assembly seats in the state.

The outcome of the presidential and National Assembly elections therefore fuelled speculations of a bandwagon effect taking its toll on the governorship and House of Assembly elections.

After the March 28 polls, the PDP tried hard to convince Kwarans not to replicate the change achieved at the national level in the state but their appeal couldn't sway voters as results of the election showed.

The APC did not only win the governorship election, it equally emerged victorious in all the 24 House of Assembly constituencies, a feat the ruling party did not achieve in the 2011 election.

In 2011, when the state APC leader Saraki was in PDP, the party then won the governorship election and 22 House of Assembly seats with the remaining two won by the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Offa Local Government, which was predominantly known as an opposition stronghold.

But this time around, the APC won Offa in a landslide, thereby solidifying its supremacy in the state. The implication of the results of the just concluded elections, pundits say, is the fact that it has further strengthened the dynasty of Olusola Saraki, which the PDP stakeholders vowed to dislodge.

The reconciliation of Bukola and his sister Gbemisola Saraki was the icing on the cake for APC as the defection of Gbemi on the eve of the presidential election also helped in one way or the other to ensure total victory for the ruling party.

For the PDP, observers say the desire to end Saraki hegemony in the political system of the state has turned out to be a tall dream at least in this dispensation. Analysts attribute the failure of the party to achieve results in the last elections to lack of cohesion with the party's stakeholders working at cross purposes.

The party had all the machineries to prosecute the elections but it appeared its leaders were not working towards victory. But many say the resources were not deployed appropriately to achieve results.

It is believed that the egoistic tendencies of some of the leaders also contributed in no small measure to the crushing defeat of the PDP.

Thus, the Saraki dynasty has been incontrovertibly firmly ingrained in Kwara politics. For over four decades, the dynasty has been nurtured as a system and platform for winning elections. Majority of PDP chieftains have wined and dined with the system. Some even argue that most of them owe their successes in politics to the dynasty.

Political analysts in the state say that it would therefore require painstaking and tireless efforts to confront the dynasty. Doing so would have to be devoid of egotism and egoism. Many say they should strive to convince the people that the struggle is not altruistic. This is the only route to get the people behind them and ultimately gain control of the state, analysts opine.

With the elections over, what happens to the freedom song? Is it going to end as well until another election year? Has the PDP been buried in the state? With the APC becoming the ruling party at the national and state levels, it is not unlikely that some PDP leaders would want to seek solace by defecting to the party and further depleting the PDP and by extension the rank of opposition in the state.

Such cross-carpeting would therefore not help the course of those who believe it is time to stop Saraki's dynasty from ruling the state. But the bitter truth, according to observers, is that the dynasty would continue to rule the state as long as those who want to fight the dynasty are not organized or put their interest over and above the well being of Kwarans.

Be that as it may, the ruling APC is obviously challenged by the seeming gang-up of the PDP gladiators who rode on the crest of the perceived desire of some Kwarans to end Saraki dynasty.

Therefore, the governor has no option than to perform to improve the confidence of the people on his administration. He has to scale up his performance in the second term in the area of youth employment, provision of social amenities, among others, analysts argue.

Saraki, who spoke with newsmen after the elections, said APC's victory at the polls was as a result of the support of the people of the state. According to him, it was clear that those claiming to be fighting for freedom were not after the well being of the people.

He said: "In our state, a lot of people have been talking; some said they are freedom fighters. So, their freedom fighting should not end after they lose election.

"Unless you were deceiving the people to use freedom to try to get what you wanted to get, that freedom should not end after the election. It is clear that they were not fighting for any freedom; it isn't for their own personal gain," he said.

On his part, Minister of National Planning, Dr Abubakar Sulaiman, who has been a strong voice in the 'campaign for freedom' in the state, said the people would seek divine intervention to their struggle.

Beyond going to the spiritual realm, it is now obvious that the remnants in PDP have a great task ahead of them in sustaining the opposition's momentum. How far can they go in the next four years? Only time will tell.