Afrobeats star David “Davido” Adeleke has claimed that he defeated 17 All Progressives Congress (APC) governors using only his mobile phone during his uncle Ademola Adeleke’s re-election as Osun State governor. In an interview with News Central TV on Tuesday, the singer detailed his role in the campaign and his stance on national politics, including President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo.
Davido boasts of defeating 17 APC governors
Davido stated: “I defeated 17 governors with all their power, with all their immunity, with all their aides, with all their escort commanders, with all their DSS, with all their billions. I defeated them with my phone.” He drew parallels to international celebrities who entered politics, mentioning Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who was an actor and comedian, and George Weah of Liberia, a footballer who became president. “So that leadership can come from anywhere for sure,” he said.
However, the singer expressed frustration with Nigeria’s electoral process, saying, “The voting process is unclear. Even when you enter, you will still drag. Are the people around you even ready to serve? So for now, you know what I’m saying? I feel like I did what I had to do for the Osun people and for my family.”
No presidential candidate and no support for Tinubu
Davido revealed that he received numerous messages asking him to replicate his support for his uncle at the presidential level, but he declined. He said he has no presidential candidate and will not support President Bola Tinubu, despite his uncle’s endorsement of Tinubu for a second term. “Personally, I don’t want to be involved in it. I’m sure a governor on good terms with the president would get more allocations, you know what I’m saying? That’s for the governor to decide. He’s been re-elected. Maybe I shouldn’t have said we, because my uncle came out to declare his support for Tinubu,” Davido said.
He added: “As for me, I’m not prepared to support anybody. I personally haven’t seen anybody. In the past, yes, I’ve supported, you know, Atiku before when we were in PDP. And I even supported it in 2015, when the APC first merged. My late uncle, Serubawon, was part of the APC. So I campaigned then. Right now, I don’t have a presidential candidate. It might change. It’s not going to be APC.”
Davido refuses to apologise to Sowore and Okpebholo
The singer also ruled out apologising to Governor Monday Okpebholo and Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, over their exchanges during the election buildup. He accused Sowore of seeking attention, claiming Sowore dragged him and his uncle into the matter following their encounter during the #EndSARS protest in Abuja. “During the #EndSARS protest in Abuja that my guys and I attended, we were all leading. Sowore came, and I tried to… I do like this. I was like, no, no, no, I don’t want to join. Since that day, he has been bitter with all those fake antics going to court, up and down,” Davido said. Insisting he owed Sowore no apology, he added, “I’m not going to apologise. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was telling the people of the state the results that the governor has.”
Regarding Governor Okpebholo, Davido said the Edo governor was not genuinely elected but merely “selected.” Okpebholo, who emerged from the September 2024 Edo State governorship election, had earlier branded Ademola Adeleke a “dancing governor” during his campaign visit to Osun State. Davido responded: “You left your state, came to another state, to rig. Then you start talking about how my uncle is a dancer. First of all, you were not even elected. You were selected. You didn’t win those votes, sir. You don’t know what it is to win an election; that’s why you could go there and talk.” He said he felt “so bad” for Okpebholo’s children and warned: “You’re abusing a sitting governor in his own state. Anyhow, sir, finish your three years. We’ll visit you when it’s time for you to get re-elected.”
Davido targets Akpabio and alleges APC spent ₦110 billion
Davido said he aimed at Senate President Godswill Akpabio on X after hearing that Akpabio was allegedly attempting to influence the collation centre and manipulate the election results. According to the singer, Akpabio was like a godfather to him. He said the Senate President called him during the election and asked him to delete his posts, but he refused. “I heard the Senate president was trying to call the collation centre. That was like my godfather, Akpabio. They were calling me today. I said, sorry. I don’t know if you guys had literally just gone against my uncle. I’m saying you guys are seeing this man. I can’t delete anything. My uncle, Aliko Dangote, called me. I said, ‘Uncle, I’m only doing it until INEC announces it. I’m not deleting anything,’” Davido said.
He also alleged that the APC and its candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, spent ₦110 billion on the election. “I just confirmed today, they spent ₦110 billion. I’m coming from somewhere where we had an insider who was sending us. If you see the cash that these people brought in, if they had gotten away with that election, Nigeria is finished because the blueprint will now be for election violence. The only way is violence and money. We didn’t spend a dime on election day. All we could do was pray that these people would take their money and vote for us. When the election started, the results were uploaded every 30 minutes. You know, it’s about 3,700 polling units they uploaded,” Davido concluded.
