Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has delivered a sharp riposte to Afrobeats star Davido, after the singer appealed to the APC National Campaign Council chairman to allow Osun residents choose their next governor freely.
Davido had on Wednesday urged Uzodimma not to turn the August 15 governorship election into a “political battleground”. Speaking at a press conference in Osogbo, the singer addressed the Imo governor directly: “To our daddy from Imo State, I say this with respect, sir. I’ve heard rumours suggesting moves to interfere in the Osun election… I appeal to you to use your influence to promote peace and allow the people of Osun to choose their candidates freely”.
But Uzodimma, who chairs the APC’s 276-member campaign council for the Osun poll, was having none of it. In a blistering response, the Imo governor reminded Davido that politics is not a music video and that if the singer is so concerned about his uncle Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election, he should “prepare to employ your uncle” after the APC sweeps the polls.
Sources close to the campaign council revealed that Uzodimma dismissed Davido’s appeal as sentimental, pointing out that the singer’s wife Chioma is from Imo State, a connection Davido himself had cited to make his plea “more sincere”. The governor reportedly stressed that the election would be fought and won on the ground, not on social media or concert stages.
Davido, who heads the Imole Youth Campaign Mobilisation Team for his uncle’s re-election bid, had urged voters to reject violence and intimidation. But Uzodimma’s retort has now raised the political temperature, setting the stage for a fierce battle between the APC and the incumbent governor’s camp ahead of the August 15 poll.
“No political victory is worth violence or the loss of a single life,” Davido had pleaded. But with Uzodimma now throwing down the gauntlet, Osun residents may be in for a bruising electoral contest.