The Osun State Police Command has summoned Senator Francis Fadahunsi over a viral video in which he allegedly told supporters to attack members of the rival Accord Party ahead of the state's governorship election.
Fadahunsi, who represents Osun East Senatorial District and belongs to the All Progressives Congress (APC), was invited to clarify statements he allegedly made during a protest at the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland in Ilesa on Tuesday.
In a letter dated August 11, 2026, and signed by the Commissioner of Police in charge of elections in Osun State, Samuel Etaifo Erale, Fadahunsi was directed to report to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Osogbo on Wednesday, August 12, at 11am.
“The invitation is premised on information in possession of the Nigeria Police alleging that during your address at the aforementioned programme, you made statements considered to be threatening, inciting and intimidating in nature, and the statement has already been in circulation on various electronic and social media platforms,” the letter read.
The video that triggered the outrage shows Fadahunsi, addressing APC supporters in Yoruba during the protest over alleged killings of party members in Ijesaland, appearing to instruct them to retaliate against Accord Party members if they encountered them before the August 15 poll.
The remarks came a day after three people were reportedly killed in a shooting in the Imo area of Ilesa, amid rising political tension in the community.
Fadahunsi Says Remarks Were Political, Not A Call To Violence
Following the backlash, Fadahunsi’s media office issued a statement in Osogbo describing the remarks as a call to defeat the Accord Party at the ballot box rather than an incitement to violence.
The statement, titled “Kill Osun Accord with Votes, Not Violence,” said the senator’s comments were a call on supporters to “overwhelmingly reject the Accord Party at the ballot box through lawful, peaceful and democratic means.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Senator’s statement was purely political and metaphorical,” the statement added, insisting Fadahunsi did not call for physical attacks on Accord members.
In a separate interview on Channels Television, Fadahunsi said his words were taken out of context by people unfamiliar with the Yoruba parable he used, and that his intention was for supporters to defeat Accord “with their votes.”
The controversy comes days before the closely watched August 15 governorship election, in which incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke, running on the Accord platform, faces the APC in a bid to retain Osun State.
The invitation adds to mounting concerns about political violence ahead of the vote, following separate reports of escalating clashes between rival camps in the state in recent weeks.
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