An Aide Has Apologised To Davido, Days After A Ban That Should Not Have Happened
Benin City · Sunday 23 August 2026
An aide to the Edo State governor, Monday Okpebholo, has apologised to Davido days after the singer was banned from performing in the state. The apology closes the incident. It does not really explain it.
The pattern this belongs to
Davido has spent this month doing politics in public. He posted about an INEC official at his uncle Ademola Adeleke's certificate of return ceremony in Osun, then addressed the former Osun governor Adegboyega Oyetola directly on Instagram. The formal campaign period for the 2027 elections opened on 19 August.
A performance ban in a different state, issued by people close to a governor from the opposing party, is not an unrelated event. It may not have been ordered from the top, and the apology suggests it was not policy. But the instinct that produced it is straightforward: a musician with tens of millions of followers is behaving like a political actor, so treat him as one.
The moment an artist's reach becomes electorally useful, somebody will try to switch it off in the places where it is inconvenient.
Why this matters beyond one artist
Nigeria's live music economy runs on state-level goodwill. Venues need permits. Concerts need security arrangements that only work with the cooperation of state authorities. A promoter deciding whether to book an act in a given state is making a political calculation whether or not anyone says so out loud.
Davido can absorb a ban in one state. He has a global touring calendar and does not need Edo. The artist two tiers below him, whose entire income is domestic shows, cannot absorb it and knows it. That artist will simply stay quiet, and nobody will ever be able to point to the moment they decided to.
The apology is the right outcome
It should be said clearly that somebody in the governor's circle recognised this was wrong and said so publicly within days. That is not nothing, and it is a better outcome than the alternative, which was a stand-off nobody would have won.
The campaign has 150 days to run. There will be more of this, and the next one may not be resolved with an apology.
Reporting: Legit.ng, Vanguard, Pulse Nigeria and Daily Post.
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