Davido: Nigerian Politics Is Evil, I Want No Part Of It
Afrobeats star David Adeleke, known as Davido, has described Nigerian politics as evil and declared he wants no part of it, in a pointed response to the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Youth Leader, Dayo Israel, over comments made after his uncle’s re-election as Osun State governor.
In a post on his verified X handle on Monday, Davido denied Israel’s suggestion that he had mobilised or brought in influencers to help secure Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in Saturday’s governorship election. “I brought no one! No one defended me! I backed my family on my own!! You guys are ruthless and disgusting! Eeewwww! I have done my job! Nigerian politics is evil, and I don’t want to be a part of it till God help us,” he wrote.
The exchange followed a post by Israel crediting Davido’s youth mobilisation efforts and public campaigning for helping deliver the Osun result. The singer, who led youth mobilisation for the Accord Party campaign and had been visibly active online throughout the contest, including flagging concerns about the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and alleging attempts by some politicians to disrupt the process, rejected the characterisation and insisted his involvement was a personal, family decision rather than a political operation.
Adeleke, who has governed Osun since 2022, secured a second term after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him winner of Saturday’s governorship election on Sunday. The Accord Party candidate polled 511,067 votes to defeat the APC’s Bola Oyebamiji, a former Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning who more recently served as Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, who recorded 444,815 votes. Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress finished a distant third with 17,180 votes.
INEC’s returning officer, Professor Joshua Ogunwole, announced the result at the collation centre in Osogbo, giving Adeleke a winning margin of 66,252 votes after collation across the state’s 30 local government areas. Adeleke won 19 local governments, including Osogbo, Ife Central, Ede South and Iwo, while Oyebamiji carried 11, among them Irewole and Boripe, where the APC recorded some of its widest margins of the night. Oyebamiji has since conceded defeat, though he and his party retain the option of a legal challenge, which they have not indicated they intend to pursue.
The contest was fought against a backdrop of heightened tension, with police deploying 15,000 personnel and 30 commissioners of police across the state, and both major parties trading accusations over violence and property destruction in the run up to the vote.
Davido has been Adeleke’s most visible celebrity backer for years, using his platform to campaign for his uncle in both the 2022 and 2026 contests. His latest remarks, however, mark a clearer attempt to draw a line between family loyalty and formal political involvement. During a livestream with content creator Carter Efe ahead of the election, the singer had said his popularity could theoretically give him an advantage in politics, while also questioning the credibility of the country’s electoral process, but he has not indicated any plan to seek office.
His description of Nigerian politics as evil taps into a wider, long running frustration among young Nigerians over the conduct of the country’s political class, a sentiment that has surfaced repeatedly around contested elections in recent years. Whether the remarks carry any lasting significance beyond the current spat with Israel remains unclear, as Davido has not elaborated on what changes he believes would be needed before he would reconsider direct involvement.
The APC has not issued an official response to Davido’s comments beyond Israel’s original post, and neither Adeleke’s office nor the Accord Party has commented publicly on the exchange.