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Nigerian Afrobeat superstar David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has stated that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, contacted him and asked him to delete his social media posts concerning the Osun State governorship election.

Davido made this known while speaking in an interview with News Central, where he discussed the recently concluded Osun governorship election, his public campaign against alleged attempts to manipulate the poll, and the role he believed social media and voters played in ensuring that the outcome reflected the wishes of the electorate.

According to Davido, he became increasingly concerned when the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) result-uploading process appeared to slow down after thousands of polling-unit results had already been uploaded.

He said he closely monitored the electronic transmission of results and suspected that the delay could provide an opportunity for those seeking to manipulate the outcome.

“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 then noted that he was informed that the Senate President was attempting to contact the collation centre.

“I heard the Senate president was trying to call the coalition 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.

“Uncle Aliko called me too. I said, Uncle, I’m not gonna delete anything until INEC announces. Do you understand?”

Davido also referenced Hon. James Faleke, Member of the House of Representatives for Ikeja Federal Constituency, noting that Faleke had advised him to focus on his music rather than venture into 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.”

He said the response he received from political actors reflected a problematic attitude towards public service.

“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.

Davido also warned political leaders that the consequences of decisions taken today would eventually affect their own children.

“Well, and let me tell you, you guys, well, you guys are getting old. Na your children go so suffer am (It’s your children who will suffer). I’m telling you,” he said.

The singer said tensions escalated during the election as citizens confronted individuals 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,” Davido said.

He praised Governor Ademola Adeleke for standing with the people and said the outcome demonstrated the importance of political leaders maintaining a connection 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,” he said.

Davido further drew attention to the large number of votes recorded in the election, stressing that the margin made it difficult, in his view, to manipulate the result.

Davido said the significance of the Osun election extended beyond the state, arguing that the outcome gave Nigerians hope that voters could still determine the direction of government through the ballot box.

He warned that the failure to protect the integrity of the election would have had serious implications for the country’s democracy.

“Because if they are taking this one, I don’t think there’s hope for anything. Do you understand?” Davido said.

He questioned why different political parties could not govern different states based on the preferences 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.

Despite overwhelming odds, Davido said the victory of his uncle, Governor Adeleke, demonstrated that the people could still prevail.

Davido’s Earlier INEC Posts

Davido had also publicly raised concerns over the electronic transmission of results during the Osun election.

In a post on August 15, he alleged that INEC’s IReV result uploads had stopped for almost two hours after 3,292 out of 3,763 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.

Davido also alleged that Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Senator Solomon Adeola and Hon. James Faleke were making moves that could affect the outcome of the election and said they were in Osogbo.

He wrote that Osun State would not accept another inconclusive election and appealed to political actors to allow the electorate’s decision to stand.

“Osun will not allow another inconclusive. Senate president, Falake give up and allow the will of the people,” he said.

He also directly accused INEC of delaying the publication of results for the purpose of allegedly creating 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 urged the electoral commission to upload the outstanding result sheets promptly.

“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 called on Faleke to stop putting 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 further claimed that Akpabio had contacted the collation centre and called for the stoppage of the collation process.

“Sen president Akpabio has called he coalition center that they should stop coalition!!!!” Davido alleged.

Davido, however, maintained that the election represented a critical test for Nigeria’s democracy, insisting that allowing voters to freely choose their leaders was essential to preventing violence and restoring public confidence in the electoral process.

He said the lesson from Osun should be clear to political leaders: when citizens believe their votes will count, they will defend the democratic process.

He warned that if an election could be successfully manipulated despite the votes of citizens, it would send a dangerous message to Nigerians about the future of democracy.