Afrobeats superstar David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has claimed that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote contacted him during the recently concluded Osun State governorship election and asked him to delete his social media posts concerning the poll.

Davido made the allegation during an interview with News Central, where he discussed his involvement in the election, his concerns over the electronic transmission of results and what he described as efforts to protect the mandate of Osun voters.

The singer, whose uncle, Governor Ademola Adeleke, contested the election on the platform of the Accord Party, had been highly vocal on social media throughout the voting and collation processes.

According to Davido, his concerns intensified after the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) electronic result-uploading process appeared to slow down after a substantial number of polling-unit results had already been uploaded.

He said he closely monitored the process and became suspicious when the uploads reportedly stopped for several hours.

“My checkmating INEC, because when the election started, the results were being uploaded every 30 minutes,” Davido said.

He explained that there were about 3,763 polling units involved in the election and that the uploads had progressed significantly before the delay occurred.

“When it got to 3,200, five hours, and I already knew what was going on,” he added.

Davido claimed that he subsequently received information that the Senate President was attempting to contact the collation centre.

He said Akpabio, whom he described as his “godfather,” contacted him and asked him to delete his social media posts.

“I heard the Senate president was trying to call the collation centre,” Davido said. “And that is like my godfather, Akpabio, he was calling me to delete. I said, ‘Sir, sorry.’”

According to the singer, he refused to remove his posts because the Independent National Electoral Commission had yet to announce the final result.

Davido further claimed that Dangote also contacted him and made a similar request.

“Uncle Aliko called me too. I said, ‘Uncle, I’m not gonna delete anything until INEC announces,’” he said.

The singer said he considered it important to maintain his public position until the electoral body officially concluded the process.

Davido also mentioned James Faleke, a member of the House of Representatives representing Ikeja Federal Constituency, who he said advised him to concentrate on his music career instead of involving himself in politics.

“Faleke. That one too retweeted me, was saying that I should focus on my music,” Davido said.

He rejected the suggestion, arguing that politics should be viewed as public service rather than a personal career.

“I said, well, politics is not a job. You are there to serve the people,” he stated.

Davido said the exchange reflected what he regarded as a problematic attitude among some political actors towards public office.

He also warned politicians that decisions taken against citizens could eventually affect their own families.

“You guys are getting old. Na your children go suffer am,” he said.

The singer said tensions during the election became particularly serious in some locations, alleging that citizens confronted people who attempted to interfere with the voting process.

He claimed that some residents physically resisted alleged attempts to seize ballot boxes, describing the development as evidence of growing frustration among Nigerians with electoral manipulation.

Davido also praised Governor Adeleke for what he described as his close relationship with the people of Osun State.

“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.

The singer argued that the outcome of the election demonstrated the importance of allowing citizens to freely choose their leaders.

He said the significance of the Osun election extended beyond the state, describing it as an important test of Nigeria’s democratic system.

Davido had earlier taken to social media to raise concerns about INEC’s electronic result transmission through the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

In a post on August 15, he alleged that result uploads had stopped for nearly two hours after 3,292 of the 3,763 results had reportedly been uploaded.

“INEC IREV uploads have been stuck for almost 2 hours now. 3292 out of 3763 results submitted and then silence. This is not acceptable!” he wrote.

He questioned why the remaining results had not been uploaded and called on INEC to complete the process.

The singer also alleged that Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Senator Solomon Adeola and Faleke were involved in moves that could affect the outcome of the election. He said the politicians were in Osogbo and urged them to respect the decision of Osun voters.

Davido warned against allowing the election to become inconclusive, referencing previous disputed electoral processes in the state.

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

He also accused INEC of deliberately delaying result uploads, alleging that the delay could create room for manipulation.

“Delay only means one thing: Buying time for manipulation,” he wrote.

Davido claimed that his technical team was monitoring hundreds of polling units and urged INEC to upload 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,” he said.

He also directly appealed to Faleke to stop what he described as pressure on INEC and respect the choice of Osun voters.

“Hon. James Faleke, stop putting pressure on INEC to change Osun election result. Respect the wishes of Osun people,” he wrote.

The singer further alleged that Akpabio had contacted the collation centre and requested that the collation process be halted.

However, the allegations made by Davido regarding attempts to influence the electoral process or stop collation remain claims attributed to him.

Davido maintained that the Osun election represented a critical moment for Nigeria’s democracy, insisting that voters must have confidence that their ballots will determine electoral outcomes.

He argued that political parties should be allowed to govern in states where citizens freely choose them, rather than every state being expected to support the same political platform.

“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.

The singer expressed satisfaction with the eventual victory of Governor Adeleke, saying the result demonstrated that citizens could prevail when they remained vigilant.

For Davido, the broader lesson from Osun is that democracy can only thrive when citizens participate actively, electoral institutions remain credible and political actors respect the outcome of elections.

He warned that undermining voters’ choices could deepen public distrust and create dangerous consequences for Nigeria’s democratic future.