Afrobeats star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has alleged that soldiers are attempting to prevent him from entering Osun State as residents vote in Saturday’s closely watched governorship election, a claim that has drawn mixed reactions amid statewide movement restrictions imposed for the poll.
In a post on his verified X account early Saturday, Davido wrote, “I’ve been reliably informed that soldiers are trying to prevent me from entering Osun tomorrow, this won’t happen, every citizen of Nigeria has the right to movement at any point of time.”
Davido, a nephew of incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke, has been actively involved in his uncle’s re-election campaign under the Accord Party. The governor is seeking a second term against candidates including Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, in the off-cycle election.
The statement came hours after the Nigeria Police Force announced a restriction of movement across Osun State from 12:00 midnight on Friday, August 14, until 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 15, 2026. The measure formed part of security arrangements for the poll, which included the deployment of thousands of police personnel and other security agents.
President Bola Tinubu had separately charged the Inspector-General of Police and other heads of security agencies to provide maximum security at polling units, saying, “No room should be allowed for troublemakers to disrupt the process.” He stressed the need to protect voters and electoral officials from intimidation, urging residents to participate in the election without fear.
Davido’s post quickly gained significant traction online, drawing mixed reactions. Some users pointed to the standard election-day movement restrictions as the likely basis for any security checks, while others expressed concern over possible targeted restrictions on the high-profile supporter of the incumbent.
Reacting to the post, former presidential media aide Bashir Ahmad described the singer’s claim as “dramatic,” writing, “You are just dramatic, @davido. It has been widely announced by the security operators that movement in and around Osun will be restricted from 12 midnight today until 6 pm today due to the election and this is a standard security measure during elections anywhere not peculiar to Osun.” He added, “So the right to freedom of movement does not mean ignoring lawful security measures put in place to ensure a peaceful and credible election.”
The claim emerged amid a tense election-day atmosphere marked by multiple allegations from rival camps. Separately, the Adeleke campaign alleged that the residence of the Osun State Speaker was surrounded by armed personnel, with the campaign council saying attempts to reach the Commissioner of Police overseeing election security and the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the election were unsuccessful. The campaign said efforts to contact the Police Situation Room also failed, as the publicly provided telephone number was switched off, and urged security agencies to ensure their operations did not create fear or intimidation among residents.
The Osun governorship election dominated headlines Saturday morning, with the APC and Accord Party accusing each other of widespread vote-buying, with agents reportedly offering voters between N10,000 and N20,000.
As of this report, security agencies had not issued a direct response to Davido’s specific claim, and it remains unverified whether the singer faced any actual attempt to bar him from entering the state beyond the general movement restrictions in place for election day.
