Osun poll: Accord candidate to drag Fadahunsi before ICC, US, UK
August 13, 2026 6:46 pm
File: Accord Party candidate for Ijesa South Federal Constituency, Ladi Adebayo
The Accord Party candidate for Ijesa South Federal Constituency, Ladi Adebayo, popularly known as Omo Lere, has said he plans to approach international bodies over comments made by Senator Francis Fadahunsi ahead of Saturday’s Osun governorship election.
Adebayo said on Thursday that he would approach the International Criminal Court and the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over the remarks.
He also said he would notify the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the United Kingdom Parliament.
Adebayo said Fadahunsi made the remarks while addressing a rally at the Ilesa roundabout, shortly after speaking at the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland.
In a video sighted by PUNCH Online on Thursday, Fadahunsi, in the remarks referenced by Adebayo, said, “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.”
Adebayo said Fadahunsi’s reference to the burning of his father’s house in Ilesa in 1983, following his father’s defection from the Unity Party of Nigeria to the National Party of Nigeria, amounted to a threat.
“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.
“By making this historical allusion, he clearly suggested that I am destined for a similar fate. 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,” he said.
Adebayo said he was taking “decisive legal action” both in Nigeria and internationally.
“I am not merely raising this issue in the public domain; I am taking decisive legal action in Nigeria and Internationally,” he said.
He said he would formally notify the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the United Kingdom Parliament and the ICC.
He also said he would file a case before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.
“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,” Adebayo said.
The development comes days after Fadahunsi came under criticism over a separate viral video in which he was heard telling APC supporters in Ilesa to deal with any Accord member sighted in the town before Saturday’s election.
Fadahunsi later said the comment was doctored and clarified that he meant Accord should be defeated with votes, not violence.
The Osun State Government has since gone to court to compel the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, and the state Commissioner of Police to investigate the senator over the remarks.
Governor Ademola Adeleke had earlier demanded Fadahunsi’s arrest, describing the comments as an incitement to genocide.
Fadahunsi was invited, questioned and released by the police on Wednesday.
The Osun governorship election, in which Adeleke is seeking re-election against the All Progressives Congress candidate, holds on Saturday.
Fawzi is a journalist and subeditor covering a wide range of beats including politics, metro, and international news, among others. He also optimises stories for digital audiences.
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