Osun State Police interrogated Senator Francis Fadahunsi, representing Osun East, for nearly two hours on Wednesday over a viral video in which he appeared to tell APC supporters to "kill" members of the rival Accord Party, two days before Saturday's closely contested governorship election.
The video, recorded at a protest at the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland in Ilesa, showed Fadahunsi addressing supporters in Yoruba following reports that a dozen APC members had been killed in the area within 24 hours. Police summoned him in a letter dated August 11, signed by the Commissioner of Police for Elections, Samuel Etaifo Erale, describing his remarks as "threatening, inciting and intimidating."
Fadahunsi's team pushed back on the video's interpretation, issuing a statement titled "Kill Osun Accord with Votes, Not Violence," saying the senator's actual message was a call for supporters to defeat the Accord Party at the ballot box through lawful, peaceful means, not a literal call to violence. Governor Ademola Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the Accord Party platform, had earlier demanded Fadahunsi's arrest over the video.
Fadahunsi was released after questioning without being charged. He said afterward that he intended to pursue legal action against those he accused of distorting the video's meaning. The episode adds to a tense run-up to Saturday's election, with both camps accusing each other of violence against supporters in the weeks before the vote.