The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the six local government areas making up the Ijesa axis of Osun East Senatorial District has rejected calls for the recall of Senator Francis Fadahunsi, describing the campaign as the handiwork of political opponents.
Akinyele Akintola, Director of the party’s Contact and Mobilisation Committee in Ijesa South Federal Constituency, made the position known in a statement obtained in Osogbo on Friday while reacting to a protest staged against the senator in Ilesa.
The local government areas covered by the APC’s position are Obokun, Oriade, Ilesa East, Ilesa West, Atakumosa East and Atakumosa West.
Akintola alleged that Fadahunsi’s political opponents sponsored the protest and urged political stakeholders in Osun East Senatorial District to avoid actions that could heighten tension in the area.
His reaction followed a peaceful protest by a group of youths and students from the senatorial district, who demanded an end to Fadahunsi’s representation of the district.
Speaking for the protesters, Olatunji Olorunfemi accused the senator of making statements capable of triggering mass violence.
Olorunfemi said the protest represented the first phase of a broader campaign to remove Fadahunsi from the Senate through a recall process.
He claimed that a petition against the senator had already been filed and that the group would proceed with the necessary lawful steps to pursue the recall.
“This protest is the first stage of our actions. We are recalling him back home. We are still going to Abuja,” Olorunfemi said.
He added that the group, operating under the Coalition of Youth and Students with Concerned Citizens of Osun East Senatorial District, had assembled what it described as the necessary legal steps for the recall.
According to him, the group was opposed to what it described as “reckless statements” made by the senator before the election.
The protesters’ position, however, was rejected by Akintola, who defended Fadahunsi’s record in the Senate and listed several projects and interventions he said had benefited constituents during the senator’s more than seven years in office.
Akintola said approximately 400 qualified women and youths had been assisted by Fadahunsi in securing employment.
He also pointed to what he described as tangible evidence of the senator’s interventions in education, road construction and rehabilitation, electricity and solar power projects, information and communication technology, skills acquisition programmes and social interventions.
“On the home front, there are physical evidence of tangible impact, investment and achievements in Education, Road Construction and Rehabilitation, Electricity and Solar Power, ICT Projects, Youth and Women Empowerments in Skills Acquisition and Social Interventions,” Akintola said.
He further defended Fadahunsi’s personal and professional record, describing him as a law-abiding citizen with an “impeccable track record” from his career as a senior Customs officer.
Akintola also cited Fadahunsi’s conferment with the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), saying the honour reflected his record of public service.
“We in APC reject call for his recall by any sponsored groups or individuals,” he said.
The APC mobilisation director also argued that retaining Fadahunsi in the Senate would benefit the senatorial district because of his relationship with President Bola Tinubu as well as senior officials of federal ministries, departments and agencies.
He maintained that such relationships could help attract and facilitate the implementation of additional federal initiatives across the district.
Osun East Senatorial District comprises 10 local government areas, with the six Ijesa-axis councils among those identified by the APC statement as opposing the recall campaign.
For now, the competing positions have placed the senator’s political future at the centre of a fresh dispute in the district, with protesters insisting that a recall process should begin and APC supporters rejecting the campaign as politically motivated.
