‘1983 Will Not Repeat Itself’- Accord Candidate Drags Fadahunsi to ICC, ECOWAS Court Over Alleged Threats

• Accord Party House of Representatives candidate, Ladi Adebayo, accuses Senator Francis Fadahunsi of issuing veiled threats capable of inciting political violence ahead of the Osun governorship election.

• Adebayo announces plans to petition the International Criminal Court (ICC), ECOWAS Court, UK Parliament and top United States congressional committees over the senator’s remarks.

• The Accord candidate warns that Senator Fadahunsi should be held personally responsible if any harm comes to him or his property, citing references to the 1983 burning of his father’s house.

• The latest development deepens the controversy surrounding Fadahunsi’s viral ‘Kill Accord’ comments, which have already triggered police interrogation, legal action and mounting political condemnation.

August 13, () — The controversy surrounding Senator Francis Fadahunsi’s inflammatory campaign remarks ahead of Saturday’s Osun State governorship election deepened on Thursday as the Accord Party’s House of Representatives candidate for Ijesa South Federal Constituency, Ladi Adebayo, popularly known as Omo Lere, announced plans to seek international legal intervention against the lawmaker.

Adebayo disclosed that he would petition the International Criminal Court (ICC), the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and the United Kingdom Parliament, alleging that Fadahunsi’s comments amounted to incitement and constituted a direct threat to his life.

The Accord candidate said the senator’s remarks, delivered during a political rally at the Ilesa Roundabout after an engagement at the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, went beyond ordinary political rhetoric.

According to him, Fadahunsi deliberately referenced the burning of his late father’s house in 1983 after his defection from the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) to the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), a historical episode he described as a dangerous signal capable of encouraging violence.

“They call one ‘Lere’ in Iperindo. He has followed the steps of his father, Adebayo. They burnt down his father’s house some years back. He has started moving about with soldiers and has started doing wicked things to the people of Iperindo,” Fadahunsi was heard saying in a video cited by Adebayo.

‘This Is A Dog Whistle For Violence’

Reacting to the remarks, Adebayo alleged that the senator intentionally invoked one of the darkest moments in his family’s political history to intimidate him ahead of the governorship election.

“My deeper concern lies in the Senator’s dangerous dog whistle. During his address, he explicitly referenced the burning of my father’s house in Ilesa in 1983, which occurred after my father defected from the UPN to the NPN,” he said.

“By making this historical allusion, he clearly suggested that I am destined for a similar fate.”

The Accord candidate warned that Senator Fadahunsi should be held personally responsible if anything happened to him, his family or any of his property.

“I hereby place the public on notice: should any harm or damage come to my properties or person, Senator Fadahunsi must be held directly and fully accountable,” Adebayo declared.

Adebayo said he had already commenced preparations for legal action both within and outside Nigeria.

According to him, formal petitions would be submitted to the ICC, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice and several international human rights and parliamentary institutions to draw global attention to what he described as escalating political intimidation in Osun State.

“I am not merely raising this issue in the public domain; I am taking decisive legal action in Nigeria and internationally,” he said.

He added that the international community must not ignore developments capable of undermining democracy and threatening lives.

“While impunity and the erosion of the rule of law may persist in Nigeria, I am placing the international community on high alert.

“2026 is not 1983. The world is now a global village, and justice will not be confined to our borders.”

Fadahunsi’s ‘Kill Accord’ Comment Exposes APC’s Rigging Plot — Timi Frank Demands Arrest, Senate Sanctions

APC Senator Fadahunsi Honours Police Invitation Over ‘Kill Accord’ Remarks

Fresh Twist To Fadahunsi Controversy

The latest allegations come only days after Senator Fadahunsi faced nationwide criticism over another viral video in which he was heard telling APC supporters in Ilesa to “kill” members of the Accord Party ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

The senator has consistently denied advocating violence, insisting that his comments were either doctored or deliberately mistranslated from Yoruba.

According to Fadahunsi, his message was simply that APC supporters should “kill the Accord Party with votes” at the ballot box rather than through violence.

On Wednesday, the senator honoured an invitation by the Osun State Police Command, where he was questioned for more than two hours over the controversial remarks before being released.

Governor Ademola Adeleke has also demanded the senator’s arrest, describing the comments as dangerous and capable of inciting violence, while the Osun State Government has instituted legal proceedings seeking to compel the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, and the Osun State Commissioner of Police to investigate the lawmaker.

Background

Saturday’s Osun State governorship election has become one of Nigeria’s most closely watched off-cycle polls ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The contest has been marked by heightened political tension, allegations of intimidation, inflammatory campaign rhetoric and competing accusations between the ruling Accord Party and the opposition APC.

Security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force, have repeatedly warned political actors against hate speech, incitement and electoral violence, insisting that anyone found violating the Electoral Act or criminal laws will face arrest and prosecution.

Adebayo’s decision to internationalise the dispute marks a dramatic new phase in the controversy, raising the political stakes just hours before voters head to the polls.