‘I defeated 17 governors with my phone’, Davido speaks on Osun election, Tinubu, Akpabio, Okpebholo

Nigerian Afrobeats star David Adeleke, known as Davido, asserted that he single-handedly overcame 17 governors from the All Progressives Congress (APC) during his uncle Ademola Adeleke's re-election campaign in Osun State. He claimed this victory was achieved using only his mobile phone, despite the governors' power, aides, and resources.

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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.

In a Tuesday interview with News Central TV, Davido drew parallels between his experience and the political landscape in Nigeria, citing examples like Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Liberia's President George Weah, who transitioned from entertainment to leadership. However, he expressed uncertainty about the clarity of the voting process and the readiness of political figures to serve.

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It’s not like there have been celebrities who have become presidents, even Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Ukraine, who was an actor and comedian. Then he became the president. George Weah of Liberia was a footballer. He became the president so that leadership can come from anywhere for sure.

Davido revealed that he had been urged to replicate his support for his uncle in the presidential election but stated he would not. He clarified that he has no presidential candidate and will not support President Bola Tinubu, even though his uncle endorsed him. Davido explained his uncle's endorsement was a personal decision for the benefit of Osun State, while he remains uncommitted.

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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.

He also addressed disagreements with Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, stating he would not apologize. Davido recounted past political involvements, including supporting Atiku Abubakar and campaigning for APC in 2015, but reiterated his current stance of not supporting any presidential candidate from the APC.

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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.