Davido, ex-presidential aide trade barbs amid Osun account freeze fallout

Afrobeats star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, and former presidential aide Bashir Ahmad on Thursday exchanged sharp criticisms in a social media row sparked off on X by the controversies surrounding the 15 August Osun governorship election.

They traded barbs about their political influence, electoral credibility and Grammy nominations.

It began after Davido reacted in apparent excitement to presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga post on X sharing an update on the President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in the Osun State Government account freeze controversy.

Mr Onanuga announced in the post that President Tinubu had a phone conversation with Governor Ademola Adeleke, Davido’s uncle, to notify him that he had ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to lift the restriction it placed on the state government’s account.

Apparently thrilled by the phone call and suggesting that he was with the governor during the phone conversation, Davido wrote, tweetquoting Mr Onanuga’s post, “I was there live! I witnessed history!!!” The remark ended with Nigerian flag and laughter emojis.

However, Mr Ahmad, a former Special Assistant on Digital Communications to the late President Muhammadu Buhari and All Progressives Congress (APC) member, responded to the post by predicting that Davido would return to X to complain if the 15 August election did not go in his preferred candidate’s favour.

“This tweet is bookmarked. It will serve as a reference for future events. I know you will come back here to lament if the August 15 results don’t go your way,” Mr Ahmad wrote.

The exchange shifts to political and career records

Mr Ahmad’s ressponse set off a crossfire of barbs.

The clash moved beyond the Osun account controversy as both sides took aim at each other’s careers and records.

Davido suggested that concerns about possible electoral manipulation were legitimate. “Of course, because [the] same way you clowns can call the INEC Chairman to write Election results… guy free me my own no good.”

The singer then dragged up Mr Ahmad’s 2022 defeat in an All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election in Kano State.

During the APC primary election, Mr Ahmad lost the bid for the House of Representatives seat in Gaya/Ajingi/Albasu Federal Constituency, Kano, polling 16 votes against the winner’s 106.

“U got 16 votes bro in primaries!!” Davido tweeted on Thursday.

Mr Ahmad, rather than continuing the argument over the election, shifted the discussion to Davido’s Grammy record.

“We have talked enough about the number of votes I got in my primaries. Can we now talk about the number of Grammy Awards you have won from your five nominations, David? Fair is fair.”

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He subsequently accused Davido of anticipating electoral defeat and using the possibility of rigging as an excuse ahead of the election.

“In politics, it is always those who know they lack a solid structure and have no real support on the ground who start screaming and crying rigging even before a single ballot is cast,” said Mr Ahmad.

He added that he believed Osun voters would return the state to the APC on August 15. “The good people of Osun are taking back their state on August 15th and we will be here to celebrate with them.”

Davido: ‘We all have different trophies’

Davido responded by rejecting Mr Ahmad’s attempt to measure his career solely by Grammy wins, pointing instead to his commercial success and international reach.

“You measure success by one award. I measure it by sold-out arenas, billions of streams, global influence, and people singing my songs across continents,” Davido tweeted.

The singer then returned to Mr Ahmad’s political career, arguing that his time in government had not translated into sufficient electoral support in his constituency.

“You had government backing and still couldn’t convince enough people to back you in your small constituency.”

Davido described Mr Ahmad as a “small boy who came into politics by accident” and said he had spent eight years around the late president without making what the singer considered a meaningful difference in his community.

He concluded: “We all have different trophies, Bashir. I’ll keep inspiring the young ones and generations to come while you wait for the next government job to get crumbs.”

Bashir brings Tyla into Grammy spat

Mr Ahmad later continued the Grammy-themed trolling by posting an AI-generated image of Davido holding a Grammy award with the caption, “Congratulations, David.”

He followed that with a photograph of South African singer Tyla holding her Grammy award, accompanied by the caption “Water. @davido.”

The post triggered another wave of reactions on X, with some users criticising Mr Ahmad for bringing a South African artiste into the argument, particularly amid recent concerns over attacks and xenophobic sentiments against Nigerians in South Africa.

Some commenters argued that if the intention was simply to mock Davido over the Grammy issue, Nigerian Grammy winners such as Burna Boy, Wizkid or Tems could have been used instead. Others defended Mr Ahmad or returned to the original argument over Davido’s five Grammy nominations.

Intersection of politics and entertainment

The exchange has since become one of the latest intersections of Nigeria’s entertainment and political conversations, coming just days before the keenly contested Osun governorship election.

Davido has openly backed Mr Adeleke’s re-election bid and joined the Accord Party’s campaign structure while Mr Ahmad rose to prominence during the APC-led administration of former President Buhari.

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The clash also highlights how the August 15 election has increasingly spilled beyond conventional political campaigning, with prominent figures using social media to debate the credibility of the poll, the strength of political structures and the competing records of those involved.

The clash was an offshoot of the controversies surrounding forthcoming Osun State governorship election.

PREMIUM TIMES reported on Wednesday that the EFCC froze an account of the Osun State Government domiciled with First Bank, after which the anti-graft agency said the action followed suspicious movement of public funds from the account amid an ongoing investigation into alleged financial misconduct involving about 11N billion in Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations.

On Thursday, Mr Tinubu directed the EFCC to lift the restriction on the account, describing the timing of the action, coming about 10 days before the governorship election, as inauspicious and capable of creating the impression that a federal agency was being used to interfere with the poll.

The president said he found the EFCC’s action deeply embarrassing.

Presidential spokesman, Mr Onanuga subsequently announced on Thursday that Mr Tinubu spoke with Mr Adeleke in a phone conversation, informing the governor that he had directed to lift the order restricting the account of the Osun State Government.