Human rights lawyer and activist Deji Adeyanju has said he and his colleagues have petitioned the governments of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada to impose visa restrictions on Senator Francis Fadahunsi over his alleged role in inciting or facilitating violence against members of the Accord Party ahead of the Osun State governorship election.
Adeyanju disclosed this during an appearance on Arise TV, where he condemned what he described as an unacceptable escalation in political rhetoric and alleged threats against members of the Accord Party ahead of the poll.
According to the activist, letters were being dispatched to the diplomatic missions of the three countries seeking sanctions against Fadahunsi over remarks which, he alleged, amounted to encouraging or facilitating political violence.
“It was very clear that he was complicit in targeting, you know, engineering violent attack against members of Accord Party, and this is unacceptable,” Adeyanju said.
He added that the petition was seeking visa restrictions against the senator as what he considered the minimum response to conduct capable of undermining the democratic process and peaceful conduct of the election.
“We have written letters. The letters are going to be dispatched early in the morning to the US Embassy, the UK, and Canada for visa ban to be placed on him,” he said.
Adeyanju argued that the request was consistent with what he described as the United States’ commitment to promoting democracy, particularly in Nigeria. He said the US had previously demonstrated a willingness to impose sanctions, including visa restrictions and financial measures, on individuals accused of threatening democratic processes.
“The US has been very explicit that anyone that threatens political violence or engages in electoral malpractice or subverting the democratic process, that they will not hesitate to issue visa ban on them, and they will not hesitate to freeze their accounts within the US,” he said.
The activist said the petition was not the first time he and his colleagues had approached foreign governments over alleged threats to Nigeria’s democratic process.
“We have subsequently, we have previously on numerous occasions done this,” he said.
Adeyanju also called on all leading candidates in the Osun governorship election to publicly condemn calls for violence against political opponents, irrespective of their political affiliations.
“We believe that all the leading candidates should condemn the call for violence against any political party,” he said.
He further urged political leaders, the presidency, governors, governorship candidates and security agencies to commit themselves to ensuring a peaceful election.
“And the governors must commit, the governorship candidates must commit, the president, the security agencies, they must commit to making sure that the election is peaceful,” Adeyanju said.
According to him, the reported level of tension and alleged violence ahead of the election was particularly disturbing.
“We have witnessed for a very long time now, we’ve not witnessed this level of violence just preceding an election, and it’s completely unacceptable,” he said.
Adeyanju acknowledged that Fadahunsi had attempted to roll back or clarify some of his remarks but maintained that the controversy surrounding the statements remained serious.
“Well, he’s rolled back on some of it,” he said, before insisting that the senator’s subsequent clarification did not remove the need for scrutiny.
“Whether he rolled back or not, you know, the fact speaks for itself,” Adeyanju said.
He maintained that the matter was particularly concerning because of what he described as an apparent connection between Fadahunsi’s remarks and attempts to target members of the Accord Party.
“It was very clear that he was complicit at targeting, you know, engineering violent attack against members of Accord Party, and this is unacceptable,” he reiterated.
During the same Arise TV appearance, Adeyanju also assessed the performances of candidates who participated in the Osun governorship debate and town hall.
He said he was “completely unimpressed” by the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, accusing the candidate of making broad promises without providing sufficient details on how they would be achieved.
“But by and large, I was completely unimpressed by the ADC, the governorship candidate, because he just was just being the typical Nigerian politician, just reeling out unimaginable promises,” Adeyanju said.
He argued that candidates needed to present specific plans and practical roadmaps rather than simply making promises during election campaigns.
“Anyone can make promises, anyone can build an Ethiopia dream, or build the perfect Ubuntu, or ideal society, but I didn’t see or hear any of such,” he said.
Adeyanju said, for example, that any candidate promising to tackle unemployment should explain specifically how the problem would be addressed.
“Because, you know Nigerians, you know Nigerians are very, very… If someone says he’s going to solve an unemployment problem, then there needs to be specific roadmaps on how to do so,” he said.
However, he said he was impressed by the “combative nature” of the All Progressives Congress candidate, describing the approach as consistent with the role of an opposition candidate challenging an incumbent administration.
“But again, I was impressed by the combative nature of the APC candidate,” Adeyanju said.
“He just came to attack the governor, so—and that’s what is expected of opposition. So, you know, he gave a lot of fireworks in the direction of the governor,” he added.
According to Adeyanju, the APC candidate challenged the governor to account for the resources and funds received by the state government.
“The APC governorship candidate was asking the governor, ‘You cannot justify the resources and the funds you’ve received, you cannot,’” he said.
Adeyanju noted, however, that the incumbent governor attempted to respond by highlighting projects undertaken by his administration, particularly in infrastructure.
“But the governor tried to highlight some of the projects they’ve done, road infrastructure, all those things that have been done across the length and breadth of the state,” he said.
He said the governor used the limited time available during the debate to provide a brief account of his administration’s achievements.
“So that the governor tried to give, you know, a brief account, you know, of within the time allocated, of course, a brief account of the things that they’ve been able to do as a government,” Adeyanju said.
Adeyanju ultimately gave the debate performances a mixed assessment but made clear that he was unwilling to award significant points to the ADC candidate because the performance failed to impress him.
“But I think by and large, I would say 60-40 between the…” he said, before adding that he was “not refusing to allocate points to the ADC candidate, just because I wasn’t impressed at all.”