•Senator Francis Fadahunsi
Senator representing Osun East, Francis Fadahunsi, has insisted that a viral video in which he was alleged to have directed his supporters to kill members of the Accord Party and their family members was edited to misrepresent his comment.
Fadahunsi spoke yesterday after being interrogated by the police at the Osun State Police Command headquarters in Osogbo over the controversial video, reports Channels TV.
Speaking to journalists after a closed-door meeting with the police at the Criminal Investigation Department of the Command, the senator said he was referring to using votes to “kill” the Accord Party in the August 15 governorship election, rather than physically attacking its members or their families.
“Well, we have met, and I have told them what I said, not the one manipulated by mischievous interpreters of our language. I am a Yoruba man. If an Igbo or Hausa woman is interpreting Yoruba to me, Yoruba means many things. We said, come Saturday, election, we will kill them with our votes. Go and look at the video; it is almost 38 minutes.
“A mischievous man, I don’t know where it comes from, whether it’s on drugs or where, misinterpreted from somebody’s blog. So, we’ll wait until after this to see what we can do legally to search,” Fadahunsi said.
He also expressed concern over recent killings in his constituency, alleging that the attacks were aimed at frightening voters from coming out to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.
Fadahunsi maintained that he was addressing what he described as the continued killing of APC members by alleged thugs in Ilesa and other parts of the state.
The senator had arrived at the Osun State Police Command headquarters at about 2:35 p.m. in the company of the Commissioner of Police in charge of election and security, Samuel Erale.
The development followed a viral video in which Fadahunsi, speaking in Yoruba, was alleged to have directed his supporters to kill members of the Accord Party and their family members.
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke had on Tuesday accused Fadahunsi of inciting violence and “genocide” against members of the Accord Party, whose governorship candidate is the incumbent governor.
Adeleke called for a thorough investigation and demanded the “immediate arrest” of the lawmaker, describing the alleged remarks as a “national security threat”.
Amnesty International yesterday also called on the authorities to hold Fadahunsi accountable for allegedly “instructing his supporters to kill members of the Accord Party ahead of the state’s August 15 governorship election”.
The rights group, in a post on its X handle, described the remarks attributed to the APC lawmaker as “deliberate and solely aimed at inciting a bloody poll in Osun State”.
“The authorities must urgently denounce any statements, live, online or otherwise, which advocate violence.
“Senator Fadahunsi must be held accountable,” it added.
Meanwhile, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Aniete Iniedu Okokon, said the police had interrogated Fadahunsi and that investigation into the matter was ongoing.
He said the outcome of the investigation would be made public after its conclusion.
Okokon also assured residents that Osun State remained safe, saying adequate security measures had been put in place to protect voters and election officials during Saturday’s governorship election.
