Osun East senator spends hours at police headquarters after controversial rally comments, while tensions rise before Saturday’s governorship election
Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi, representing Osun East Senatorial District, left the Osun State Police Command headquarters in Osogbo on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, after hours of questioning over controversial remarks made during an All Progressives Congress campaign-related gathering in Ilesa ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
Also read: Osun Election: Police summon Fadahunsi over ‘kill’ threat
Fadahunsi arrived at the State Criminal Investigation Department after the police invited him to clarify comments in a widely circulated video that appeared to urge APC supporters to kill members of the rival Accord Party.
The senator was later seen leaving the police headquarters with members of his entourage.
However, neither Fadahunsi nor the police had publicly disclosed the details of the questioning by the time he left, leaving the next stage of the matter unclear.
The police invitation followed mounting concern over the video and its potential implications for an already tense election atmosphere.
The invitation, signed by Samuel Erale Etaifo, the Commissioner of Police overseeing the Osun election, described the remarks as potentially “threatening, inciting and intimidating”.
The controversy centres on comments Fadahunsi made in Yoruba during a gathering at the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland in Ilesa.
The event was linked to a protest over alleged attacks on APC members in the area.
In footage circulated online, Fadahunsi appeared to tell supporters that if they encountered Accord members before election day, “it is killing”.
The comments triggered criticism from political opponents and renewed fears that inflammatory campaign rhetoric could spill into violence.
Fadahunsi, however, has rejected the interpretation that he was calling for physical attacks. He said his words had been taken out of context and insisted that he was urging voters to defeat the Accord Party through the ballot.
“If you listen to me very well, I didn’t say it in English, so you cannot interpret it in English,” Fadahunsi said during an interview on Channels Television.
He added that he meant supporters should “shut them down with their votes”.
The senator also linked his remarks to alleged violence in his community, claiming that more than 11 people had been killed and several others wounded between Monday night and Tuesday.
He said he had taken residents to the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland after what he described as inadequate responses to previous complaints.
The allegations have not been independently established in the reports reviewed for this story, but the political atmosphere in Ilesa has become a significant concern in the final days before the election.
The controversy also drew a forceful response from Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, who called for Fadahunsi to be investigated and arrested over what the governor described as a serious security concern.
Adeleke said he had raised the matter with Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu and called for action against what he regarded as incitement.
“This is now beyond politics. This is now a national security threat,” Adeleke said while addressing journalists in Osogbo.
Fadahunsi has maintained that his remarks were a response to alleged attacks on APC supporters and that he was demanding justice rather than advocating indiscriminate violence.
His media office similarly described the message as a call for voters to reject Accord peacefully at the ballot box.
The police intervention comes against the backdrop of a closely watched election in which incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke is seeking another term against APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji and other contenders.
The 2026 Osun governorship election is scheduled for Saturday, August 15, with security agencies under pressure to prevent campaign disputes, inflammatory statements and localised clashes from disrupting the poll.
Osun has experienced intense political competition in recent electoral cycles.
The 2022 governorship election saw Adeleke defeat the then-incumbent APC candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, in a closely fought contest, further underlining the political stakes surrounding this year’s vote.
With voting only days away, the Fadahunsi police probe has added another sensitive episode to an already charged campaign.
Also read: Osun 2026: Adeleke’s wife demands peace as women protest arrests
The senator’s departure from the police headquarters on Wednesday may have eased the immediate uncertainty surrounding his questioning, but the wider concern over political rhetoric and public safety remains a powerful feature of the final stretch of the Osun campaign.
Mariam Balogun is a contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.
