Senator Francis Fadahunsi spent nearly two hours in police custody Wednesday afternoon, answering questions from the Osun State Police Command over a viral video in which he was allegedly heard telling supporters to “kill any Accord member” during a protest at the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland.
The controversy erupted after Governor Ademola Adeleke personally called for Fadahunsi’s arrest following the video’s circulation, which surfaced amid heightened tension in the state following the alleged killing of 12 APC members within 24 hours in Ilesa. The senator, however, has firmly denied making the statement as it was reported, insisting his actual words were that APC supporters should “kill Accord Party in Osun with their votes,” a phrase he says was distorted through mistranslation. He separately alleged that no fewer than 40 APC members had been killed in his senatorial district over the past year.
Police formally invited Fadahunsi on Tuesday once the video went viral, and he arrived at the State Police Command headquarters around 2:25pm Wednesday accompanied by an aide. Rather than meeting directly with the Commissioner of Police, he was redirected to the Department of Criminal Investigation, where Commissioner of Police for election duty Samuel Etaifo and other senior officers led him into a separate investigation room, closed off from journalists. He spent roughly one hour and 57 minutes there before being taken to the Commissioner’s office for a further 20 minutes, then returned to CID. He was later joined by former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Adebayo Adeleke and legal practitioner Edmund Biriomoni, before being released around 4:45pm.
Speaking to journalists afterward, Fadahunsi maintained that his comments had been fundamentally misinterpreted along linguistic lines. “I came here to honour the police invitation. We have met and I told them what I said, not the one manipulated by the mischievous interpreters of the Yoruba language. I am a Yoruba man. If a Hausa or Igbo person is interpreting, it may not be correct. Yoruba means a lot of things. What I said was that between now and Saturday, we will kill them with our votes,” he said, while expressing confidence that APC supporters would still turn out in large numbers for gubernatorial candidate Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji despite what he described as intimidation from political thugs.
The Adeleke camp, however, isn’t satisfied with the senator’s explanation. The Imole Campaign Council called on police to make the investigation’s findings public and to formally charge Fadahunsi, arguing that his remarks have left Accord Party members across Ijesaland genuinely fearful for their safety. Spokesperson Pelumi Olajengbesi framed the matter as a test of equal treatment under the law. “We consider human life to be too precious to be subjected to such daring threat by Senator Fadahunsi and as such, believes that every effort should be spared to guarantee its sanctity. Since the threat was issued by Senator Fadahunsi, our members in Ijesaland and across Osun State have come under immense fear for their lives,” he said, adding that the council isn’t asking police to presume guilt but simply to demonstrate that accountability applies regardless of political standing.
Reaction extended well beyond Osun’s borders. Accord Party presidential candidate Dr. Gbenga Hashim issued a particularly forceful warning, invoking international law and threatening to pursue an arrest warrant through the International Criminal Court if Nigerian authorities fail to act. He argued that incitement to political violence, particularly murder, constitutes an international crime under the Hague Statute, and that Nigeria’s status as a signatory obligates it to arrest and prosecute the senator, or face escalation to international mechanisms.
NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi also weighed in, describing Fadahunsi’s remarks as deeply troubling and calling for their immediate retraction. Writing through a statement from his spokesman, Obi framed the senator’s comments as fundamentally at odds with his constitutional responsibilities. “As a high-ranking lawmaker representing the people in the National Assembly, Senator Fadahunsi carries a solemn constitutional and moral responsibility to promote peace, uphold democratic norms, and foster unity. It is therefore alarming and unacceptable that a distinguished senator would deploy intimidation, incendiary remarks, or political threats capable of heightening tensions, instilling fear in voters, and potentially inciting electoral violence in Osun State,” he wrote, calling on all political stakeholders to exercise restraint and urging Osun residents to remain calm and peaceful as they head to the polls.
