Davido has articulated the reasons for his significant involvement in the Edo State governorship election.
The singer’s late mother, Imade Veronica Adeleke, was originally from Edo State, establishing a personal link to the region.
Nevertheless, Davido asserts that his interest transcends familial connections.
“As a Nigerian, I believe it’s essential to ensure free and fair elections,” Davido stated on social media.
He has been outspoken in his criticism of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding alleged electoral irregularities.
This marks not the first occasion on which Davido has championed electoral integrity; he previously raised his voice during the Osun State gubernatorial election, in which his uncle, Governor Ademola Adeleke, was a candidate.
Additionally, Davido has publicly supported the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, in the race for the Edo governorship.
Through his influential platform, Davido aligns with other Nigerians in advocating for a peaceful and transparent electoral process.
In other news, Afrobeats singer David Adeleke, nicknamed Davido, claims that D’banj was the first Nigerian musician to reach global fame.
According to him, Nigerian artists were not gaining foreign bookings prior to the global popularity of D’banj’s 2012 smash track ‘Oliver Twist’.
In a recent interview with Apple Music, Davido stated that D’banj’s international success triggered a paradigm change, which resulted in African music finding momentum in the Western world.
He said, “D’banj was my first vision of a Nigerian artist taking over the world. No one in America was booking Nigerian artists for shows but that changed when I saw Kanye West in D’banj’s ‘Oliver Twist’ video on YouTube.
“It was because of the success of ‘Oliver Twist’ that Americans started booking D’banj, 2Face, P-Square and other African artists for shows. They were making about $1,000,000 per show. So I decided to switch and start doing African music because that’s where I am from.”
While D’banj helped to globalise African music, particularly Afrobeats, in its early stages of exportation, many observers dispute Davido’s assertion that he was the first Nigerian musician to reach international popularity.
In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Nigerian music giants such as Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Majek Fashek, and others rose to international prominence.
2Baba, originally known as 2Face, received multiple international honours for his hit song ‘African Queen’, which was utilised as the music of the smash American romance comedy ‘Phat Girlz’ (2006), years before D’banj’s ‘Oliver Twist’ was released.