A VIRAL video circulating on social media shows Francis Fadahunsi, the senator representing Osun East, addressing a crowd of supporters in Ilesa, Osun State, ahead of the governorship election.
Speaking in Yoruba, Fadahunsi, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is heard addressing his supporters and urging them to confront opposition party members, with his remarks translated as ‘kill them’.
The senator said in the video:
“What kind of life is this? We don’t want to hear anything about the Accord Party again in Ilesa. We have now told you, until the election period, whenever you see them, kill them.”
The remarks sparked widespread public outrage, with public figures including musician David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, and Osun State governor Ademola Adeleke calling for Fadahunsi’s arrest. The senator, however, denied inciting violence.
In a statement titled ‘Kill Osun Accord with Votes, Not Violence, Fadahunsi Tells APC’, his media office said the remarks were a call to defeat the opposition at the polls rather than through violence.
However, during a subsequent live interview on TVC News, the senator claimed that the video circulating on social media was created using artificial intelligence (AI), while also arguing that his reference to ‘reprisal’ meant defeating political opponents at the polling units.
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CLAIM
Senator Francis Fadahunsi claims viral video showing him calling for Accord Party members to be killed is AI-generated.
FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
To verify the authenticity of the clip, The FactCheckHub subjected various angles of the footage to digital forensic tools. Analysis using Hive Moderation returned a 0.2 per cent probability that the footage was AI-generated and a 0.1 per cent probability that it was a deepfake, indicating that the media is authentic. Another angle of the footage analysed by Hive Moderation was rated 100 per cent real. These results support the conclusion that the footage is authentic and has not been manipulated.
The FactCheckHub subjected the images to another verification tool, IsItAI, which returned a 69 per cent probability that the media was authentic and unmanipulated.
Beyond forensic detection, inconsistencies in the lawmaker’s defence also cast doubt on the AI claim. Before alleging that the video was AI-generated, his media team issued an official statement seeking to contextualise the remarks as political rhetoric, effectively acknowledging that the incident occurred.
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Furthermore, during his live appearance on TVC News, Fadahunsi admitted to speaking Yoruba in the video, claiming that his statement was merely a ‘parable’. He also confirmed that he led a protest at the Oba’s palace in Ilesa on Tuesday, the same location where the video was recorded.
“When I got to the Oba’s palace today, I led my people there to protest to the Oba that last night we lost three people. This morning, they’ve killed again,” he stated during the broadcast.
Additionally, The ICIR and other media organisations reported the lawmaker’s remarks and subsequently reported that the Nigeria Police Force had invited Fadahunsi for questioning over the alleged incitement to violence.
VERDICT
The claim by senator Francis Fadahunsi that the viral video showing him threatening Accord Party members is AI-generated is FALSE. Forensic analysis confirms that the footage is genuine, while the senator’s own admissions and official statements acknowledge that the event took place.
Seasoned writer and literary curator, Zainab Abdulrasaq is a factchecker for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached on IG @blackbookishgirl or zabdulrasaq@icirnigeria.org
