Senator Francis Fadahunsi, representing Osun East on Wednesday accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of introducing political violence into the Ife/Ijesa axis ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
Adeleke had on Tuesday in Osogbo called for Fadahunsi’s immediate arrest over the alleged statement in which he was said to have instigated his supporters to kill members of the Accord Party.
However, addressing a press conference in Osogbo, Fadahunsi accused the governor of failing to prevent violence and politically motivated killings, which he claimed had spread to Osun East.
The senator alleged that 30 APC members had been killed in the past month in orchestrated attacks aimed at intimidating opposition supporters and preventing them from coming out to vote.
“Adeleke created terrorism from Ede into Osun East, the stronghold of APC, for us to be destabilised, so that people will not go out en masse to cast their votes,” he alleged.
Fadahunsi, while referring to reported cases of violence in Ijesaland, alleged that four people were killed and 16 others sustained gunshot injuries during a crisis over control of the local government administration.
He also recalled violence in Esa-Oke in April 2025, alleging that four people were killed while 12 others sustained gunshot wounds.
Meanwhile, the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress also on Wednesday defended Fadahunsi over the viral video.
The party also criticised Governor Adeleke for demanding Fadahunsi’s arrest, alleging that the governor lacked the moral standing to make such a call.
In a statement by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, the APC alleged that Adeleke remained bitter over Fadahunsi’s defection to the party, claiming that the Accord Party’s support base had been depleted in Osun East Senatorial District.
The APC described the viral video as doctored by the governor’s camp to create a false narrative, stressing that it did not support jungle justice as a means of settling political disputes.
“We are stating unequivocally that the accusation of the Accord Party functionaries in this regard was borne out of the desperation of the players of the relatively unknown political party to act maliciously against the highly respected and peace-loving federal lawmaker under the guise of playing politics,” the party said.
(Ripples)