Friday, August 14, 2026 - Broadcaster and Arise Television host Rufai Oseni has accused the Federal Government of applying double standards in handling inflammatory statements, arguing that a person's political, religious, and ethnic affiliations often determine whether they face accountability.
Oseni made the remarks while reacting to the controversy
surrounding Senator Francis Fadahunsi, who faced public backlash over a viral
video containing incendiary remarks directed at political opponents ahead of
the Osun State governorship election.
Faulting Fadahunsi’s defense that the video was manipulated
using artificial intelligence, Oseni noted that the lawmaker appeared to
contradict himself by later asserting that he only meant defeating opponents at
the ballot box. He argued that law enforcement agencies possessed sufficient
evidence to prosecute the senator if the administration were genuinely
committed to tackling hate speech and inciting rhetoric.
While suggesting that the senator should have been allowed
to defend himself in court following police interrogation, Oseni expressed
skepticism that any meaningful legal action would follow, noting that
high-profile figures in Nigeria routinely evade consequences for provocative
speech.
Highlighting what he described as systemic hypocrisy in law
enforcement, Oseni drew a contrast between the treatment of prominent northern
clerics and political enforcers versus detained Indigenous People of Biafra
leader Nnamdi Kanu.
“The
hypocrisy on which the country lives is that there are some that cannot say it.
An example goes back to the case of the likes of Sheikh Gumi. They can say some
things and get away with it. If you are probably an Nnamdi Kanu, you cannot say
some things. That’s how the country is structured.”
Concluding his analysis, Oseni emphasized that the legal and
public response to provocative statements in Nigeria remains heavily tied to
identity rather than the rule of law.
“So, what is
said in Nigeria depends on where you are when you said it, your political
affiliation, your religious affiliation, your racial affiliation, your tribal
affiliation, that’s just it.”
0 Comments