Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, sparked controversy after being seen wearing a fez cap featuring the logo of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during a social gathering on Tuesday.
Igboho attended the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rasheed Ladoja’s first Ramadan lecture since his coronation. In a viral video, the activist was seen greeting the monarch and the event’s guest lecturer, Chief Imam of Offa, Sheikh Muyideen Salmon, while donning the APC-branded cap.
The appearance has triggered heated debates on social media, with many users drawing comparisons between Igboho and separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, questioning Igboho’s political alignment.
A user identified as #Emir Sirdam commented, “I remember when I said Sunday Igboho was a Bola Tinubu boy plant, and Yoruba nation people wanted to tear my boxers 😂😂.”
Another, #spoiltkid, wrote, “How can you claim to be a freedom fighter and then turn around to support the very APC system that has brought nothing but tears to the people? Watching Sunday Igboho return from exile only to join APC and sing praises to Tinubu is a shameful display of belly politics. Bikonu, why is it always the same pattern and the same Yoruba? You cannot be a “defender” of the people and support the same evil group of men. This is exactly why the Southeast remains different. We in the Southeast know the only true solution is a clean break. We don’t want “pardon” or “mercy” from a broken union. We want our sovereignty. We are not the same people. We do not have the same stomach for betrayal.”
Some, like #daddyfemzy, defended Igboho, noting, “He was in an asylum, declared wanted by Buhari, dead or alive. The recent APC caucus brokered his return home courtesy of Ladoja. What do you expect? Let’s be practical. If you were him. Won’t you?”
Another said, #OduduwaR, “Sunday Igboho shamelessly gallivanting with APC cap on. You can’t be fighting for Yoruba freedom and still dine with the people that impoverished the same Yoruba people. Ko possible.”
Another user #drkenon2 said, “After seeing how Sunday Igboho was jumping like a toad with APC cap, my respect for MNK has doubled.”
Igboho’s spokesman, Olayomi Koiki, confirmed that all arrangements for his principal’s return to Nigeria have been finalised after intervention by prominent traditional rulers, including the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; and the Olugbon of Orile Igbon, Oba Francis Alao.
Igboho fled Nigeria on July 1, 2021, following a raid by the DSS and Nigerian Army over alleged stockpiling of arms amid his campaign against armed Fulani herdsmen in the South-West. Three aides were killed and 13 arrested during the raid. He later fled to the Benin Republic, was detained for over a year, and released in March 2022.
Koiki stated that Igboho has now been cleared by the Presidency and “may return to the country at any moment and will be fully reintegrated after his clearance has been granted.”
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