The viral video involving Senator Francis Fadahunsi in Osun is going to put the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services to a test that will be referenced in decades to come.
This video now widely circulating shows Senator Fadahunsi making remarks about the Accord Party which have generated serious public concern only days before the Osun governorship election. Governor Ademola Adeleke and his campaign have called for his arrest and investigation. Fadahunsi has subsequently explained that when he spoke about “killing” Accord, he meant defeating the party with votes and not physically harming anybody.
His explanation may ultimately be accepted or rejected. That is precisely why there are law-enforcement institutions. But there is a larger question Nigerians are entitled to ask. If Fadahunsi were an opposition politician, would the security agencies find his explanation conveniently acceptable without an invitation or arrest?
Omoyele Sowore described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” in social-media posts. He did not run away from his words. He stood by them and has continued to defend them. What followed? The machinery of the Federal Government moved.
The DSS instituted criminal proceedings against him. The matter went before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Think about the contrast.
Sowore’s statement was directed at the President. The State considered it serious enough to invoke criminal process.
Now we are confronted with the words of a serving senator at perhaps the most combustible moment possible: immediately before an election. His words have been interpreted by political opponents as a threat of violence. He says they have been misunderstood and that he was speaking metaphorically about electoral defeat. Fine.
But since when did an explanation by the person at the centre of an allegation replace investigation? That kind of luxury is rarely extended to government critics.
This is precisely where the Inspector-General of Police and the DSS must understand that their conduct between now and the election will speak louder than any press statement about their roles.
A security institution cannot become ferocious when an opposition voice speaks and suddenly rediscover patience, context and linguistic interpretation when a member of the ruling establishment speaks.
I call on the DSS to apply the same institutional energy that would have been applied if those words had come from Sowore or another prominent government critic.
There cannot be one criminal justice system for those who irritate the President and another for those who belong to the President’s political family.
The danger is particularly grave in Osun because an election is only days away.
If opposition figures are being arrested or threatened with arrest while an allegation involving potentially inflammatory political language from a ruling-party senator attracts no comparable urgency, Nigerians are entitled to ask whether law enforcement has become another participant in the contest. And that would be dangerous for democracy.
If Senator Fadahunsi were not a member of the ruling party, would he still be sitting comfortably at home explaining what he meant or would he already be explaining those words to security agents?
And sometimes the greatest threat to democracy is not merely what politicians say or do. It is what institutions saddled with critical responsibilities choose to hear and what they conveniently choose not to hear.
Tope Temokun
Lawyer and Public Advocate.
August 11, 2026.
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