Osun Senator Fadahunsi Grilled for 2 Hours, Denies Threatening APC Members

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Senator Francis Fadahunsi, representing Osun-East Senatorial District, was yesterday questioned by the Osun State Police Command for about two hours over an alleged inciting statement ahead of Saturday's governorship election. Governor Ademola Adeleke had called for the arrest of Fadahunsi following a viral video in which the senator was allegedly heard saying, “kill any Accord member,” during a protest at the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland. He was accompanied by a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Adebayo Adeleke, and a legal practitioner, Edmund Biriomoni before he was eventually released by the police around 4:45pm.

Fadahunsi denied making the statement, claiming that what he said was that APC supporters should “kill Accord Party in Osun with their votes.” He alleged that no fewer than 40 members of the APC had been killed in his district in the last 12 months. The Osun State Police Command invited Fadahunsi on Tuesday after the video went viral.

However, the Imole Campaign Council, TICC, has called on the Nigeria Police Force to make public the outcome of the investigation so far conducted on Fadahunsi's remarks. The TICC, in a statement by its Spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi, also urged the Police to charge the lawmaker to court over his remarks, noting that since the comment, most members of Accord Party in Ijesaland have been living in fear.

Fadahunsi expressed confidence that APC members would come out en masse to vote for the party's governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, AMBO, despite what he described as intimidation by political thugs. The protest followed the alleged killing of 12 All Progressives Congress, APC, members within 24 hours in Ilesa, an incident that heightened political tension in the state.

The Presidential Candidate of the Accord Party, Dr. Gbenga Hashim has warned those beating the drums of war over the Osun election to be wary of the consequences of their actions. He said that Fadahunsi and those inciting violence would end up at the International Criminal Court, because incitement to political violence and especially murder is International Crime under the Hague Statute.

And in a statement by his spokesman, Idris Zekeri Jnr, the 2027 Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Mr. Peter Obi, described as deeply concerning “the tactless and provocative statement made by Senator Fadahunsi.

Fadahunsi honoured the police invitation and clarified the statement attributed to him. He said: “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.”

Fadahunsi expressed confidence that APC members would come out en masse to vote for the party's governorship candidate, AMBO, despite what he described as intimidation by political thugs.