Nigerian Afrobeat superstar, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has claimed that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, contacted him during the Osun State governorship election and asked him to delete his social media posts concerning the poll.
Davido made the disclosure in an interview with News Central while reflecting on the August 15 governorship election, his outspoken intervention on social media and what he described as attempts to manipulate the electoral process.
The singer, whose uncle, Ademola Adeleke, was seeking re-election as governor of Osun State, said he became concerned when the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) electronic result-uploading process appeared to slow down after thousands of polling-unit results had already been uploaded.
According to him, results had initially been uploaded at regular intervals, but the process suddenly stalled when a significant number of results had been transmitted.
“My checkmating INEC, because when the election started, the results were being uploaded every 30 minutes,” Davido said.
“You know, it’s about 3,700, is it polling units? Oh, that they upload, yeah. When it got to 3,200, five hours, and I already knew what was going on.”
Davido said he was subsequently informed that the Senate President was attempting to contact the collation centre.
He also claimed that Akpabio personally contacted him and urged him to delete his posts concerning the election.
“I heard the Senate president was trying to call the collation centre,” he said.
“And that is like my godfather, Akpabio, he was calling me to delete… I said Sir, sorry. You guys are like, you guys have literally just gone against my uncle. I can’t delete anything.”
Davido further claimed that Dangote also contacted him and made a similar request.
“Uncle Aliko called me too. I said, Uncle, I’m not gonna delete anything until INEC announces. Do you understand?” he said.
The singer also mentioned James Faleke, member of the House of Representatives representing Ikeja Federal Constituency, who he said had advised him to concentrate on his music career rather than politics.
“Faleke. That one too retweeted me, was saying that I should focus on my music,” Davido said.
“I said, well, politics is not a job. Do you understand? So you are there to save the people.”
Davido said Faleke’s alleged advice reflected what he considered to be a troubling attitude among some political actors towards public office.
“So he said, and focus on your music career, let us focus on our politics. See, that’s the mentality. Let us focus on our politics,” he said.
He warned political leaders that decisions taken today could eventually affect their children.
“Well, and let me tell you, you guys, well, you guys are getting old. Na your children go so suffer am. I’m telling you,” he said.
Davido also described scenes of tension during the election, claiming that some Osun residents confronted individuals allegedly attempting to interfere with the voting process.
“Like, it got to a point where it was the Osun people that were beating the people that were trying to seize ballot box. People are tired. And they should be very scared,” he said.
The singer praised Governor Ademola Adeleke for what he described as standing with the people, arguing that the governor’s victory demonstrated the importance of political leaders maintaining a strong relationship with their constituents.
“And let me tell you something, my uncle should be an example to all other government officials, governors. When you stand by the people, the people will stand by you,” Davido said.
He also pointed to the large number of votes recorded during the election, arguing that the margin made it difficult, in his view, for the outcome to be manipulated.
For Davido, the significance of the Osun election extended beyond the state, as he said the outcome offered Nigerians hope that voters could still determine who governs them through the ballot box.
He warned that compromising the integrity of elections could have serious consequences for Nigeria’s democracy.
“Because if they are taking this one, I don’t think there’s hope for anything. Do you understand?” he said.
Davido also questioned why different political parties could not control different states if that was the preference of their residents.
“Why can’t there be different parties in different states? The people should be able to choose who they want. It’s only fair,” he said.
He maintained that despite what he described as overwhelming odds, the victory of Governor Adeleke showed that the electorate could still prevail when citizens stood up for their votes.
Davido had earlier used his social media platforms to raise concerns about INEC’s electronic transmission of results during the election.
In a post on August 15, he alleged that uploads on INEC’s IReV platform had stopped for almost two hours after 3,292 of the 3,763 polling-unit results had been submitted.
“INEC IREV uploads have been stuck for almost 2 hours now. 3292 out of 3763 results submitted and then silence. This is not acceptable! Why has the uploading stopped? @inecnigeria,” he wrote.
He also alleged that Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Senator Solomon Adeola and Faleke were making moves that could affect the outcome of the election and claimed that they were in Osogbo.
Davido insisted that Osun residents would not accept another inconclusive election and appealed to political actors to respect the decision of voters.
“Osun will not allow another inconclusive. Senate president, Faleke give up and allow the will of the people,” he wrote.
He further accused INEC of deliberately delaying result uploads to allegedly create room for manipulation.
“Yo @inecnigeria INEC, DELAY only means one thing: Buying time for Manipulation,” Davido wrote.
The singer claimed that his technical team was monitoring hundreds of polling units and called on INEC to upload outstanding result sheets.
“While our Tech Team have the 470 Polling Units covered. We expect you to do the right thing and have those sheets up in less 30mins,” he said.
Davido also directly called on Faleke to stop what he described as pressure on INEC and respect the wishes of Osun voters.
“Hon. James Faleke, stop putting pressure on INEC to change Osun election result. Respect the wishes of Osun people. We don’t want Oyetola and AMBO,” he wrote.
He also claimed that Akpabio had contacted the collation centre and called for the collation process to be stopped.
“Sen president Akpabio has called he coalition center that they should stop coalition!!!!” Davido alleged.
The singer maintained that the Osun election represented a major test of Nigeria’s democracy, stressing that voters must be allowed to freely determine their leaders.
According to him, when citizens believe that their votes will count, they are more likely to defend the democratic process and reject attempts to undermine their choices.
He argued that the events in Osun should serve as a warning and lesson to political leaders across Nigeria: politicians who remain connected to the people and respect their choices are more likely to retain their support.
Davido’s comments have added a fresh layer to the political debate surrounding the Osun election, particularly over the role of celebrities, social media and citizens in monitoring electoral processes.
While the singer presented his actions as an effort to protect the votes of Osun residents, his allegations against senior political figures and his claim that Akpabio and Dangote contacted him to delete his posts could further fuel controversy over the conduct and aftermath of the election.
He ultimately maintained that the people must remain at the centre of Nigeria’s democratic process, insisting that political parties and individual politicians should not determine electoral outcomes ahead of voters.
For Davido, the message from Osun was clear: when citizens believe their votes are being threatened, they will increasingly demand accountability and defend what they believe is their democratic right.