A photograph of Yoruba Nation separatist leader Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, donning an All Progressives Congress cap at the ruling party’s state congress in Oyo State has ignited a fresh wave of outrage among his base.
His critics accusing the activist of abandoning the self-determination movement he once championed with considerable fervour.
Igboho’s appearance at the Oyo State APC congress this week drew widespread condemnation from Yoruba Nation supporters and separatist sympathisers, many of whom viewed the optics as a symbolic capitulation to the very federal establishment he had long railed against.
Igboho rose to prominence as a self-determination activist known for his advocacy for an independent Yoruba Nation, gaining international attention in January 2021 when he issued an ultimatum to Fulani herdsmen in Ibarapa, Oyo State, to vacate the land following the killing of a local doctor.
In July 2021, his residence in Ibadan was raided by operatives of the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Army over allegations of stockpiling arms and ammunition, during which three of his aides were killed and 13 others arrested. He subsequently fled the country and was arrested at Cotonou Airport in the Benin Republic while attempting to travel to Germany, and was detained for over a year before regaining freedom in March 2022.
Following his return to Nigeria on January 26, 2026, he paid a courtesy visit to the Olubadan of Ibadan land, and disclosed that traditional rulers, including the Ooni of Ife, had played behind-the-scenes roles in facilitating his return.
Since his homecoming, Igboho has signalled a willingness to work within the system rather than against it. Speaking with Saturday PUNCH in Ibadan, he said: “I need the support of the Federal Government to strengthen security in the South-West. I’m ready to enter the forests in Yorubaland with my boys to flush out terrorists who have been attacking our people in rural communities. We can’t do anything if the Federal Government does not give us approval or support.”
In a further indication of his evolved posture, Igboho last month urged IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to explore dialogue and mediation with the Federal Government, expressing optimism that President Bola Tinubu’s administration was “predisposed to negotiation and mutual understanding.”
Despite the accusations from former allies, Igboho had previously insisted his commitment to the Yoruba cause remained intact. “We haven’t dropped the agitation for the Yoruba nation despite the emergence of President Bola Tinubu. Our agitation is not predicated on the election of a Yoruba man as the President of the country. Tinubu is a Yoruba man and his becoming the President can’t stop us from the struggle for the realisation of the Yoruba nation,” he said. (Daily Post Nigeria)
Those allegations of compromise are not new. An ally of Lagos transport union chairman MC Oluomo alleged in 2023 that Igboho collected substantial sums from the APC, PDP, and Labour Party to go silent during the 2023 election campaigns — allegations his media aide, Olayomi Koiki, described at the time as “complete lies from the pit of hell.”
More recently, Igboho also denied allegations that he received N50 billion from the Federal Government to abandon the separatist agitation, insisting he had not been bought off by any government interest.
The APC congress he attended on Tuesday saw former Oyo State deputy governor Segun Adeyemo emerge as the party’s new Oyo State chairman, with his emergence described as having come through consensus under the supervision of a congress committee constituted by the party’s national leadership in Abuja.
