Nigeria: Headies Disqualifies Portable Over Threat to Life of Co-Nominees

27 July 2022
Leadership (Abuja)
By Samuel Abulude

Organisers of The Headies Awards 2022 edition, on Tuesday, disqualified controversial singer, Habeeb Okikiola, otherwise known as Portable, from the list of Award nominees over threat to kill his co-nominees.

The Headies via its social media handle stated that Portable was disqualified from the nominees' list to further pass a strong message of not condoning reckless and uncouth statements.

"The music industry demands all-round excellence, and it is extremely important for young artists being potential role models to exude professional responsibility, proper decorum and have respect for others," the organisers stated.

According to the organisers, Portable was disqualified due to a series of misdemeanours via his social media platforms.

Recall that on the May 25, 2022, he threatened to kill, harm or cause harm to the other nominees in the same categories of awards he was nominated for if he does not emerge the winner.

Portable was nominated to contest in the 'Rookie of the Year' and 'Best Street-Hop Artiste' categories when The Headies unveiled the nominees for its 2022 edition.

Other nominees in the 'Rookie of the Year' category include Av, Fave, Magixx, and Ugocci.

For the second category, he is pitted against Bella Shmurda, Mohbad, Naira Marley, and Goya Menor, among others.

The 'Zazu' crooner took to his Instagram page to declare that tbe award was his and whoever wants to compete the award with him will face death.

However, not being pleased with Portable's statement, organisers of the Awards in a swift response said: "We have notified the Nigeria police of Mr. Okokiola's actions to fellow nominees. Also, demand for the immediate retraction of the video as well as a written apology to nominees in both categories and to The Headies has been made.

"Should Mr. Okikiola fail to meet our demands, we will not only disqualify him from participating in The Headies but also enforce the instrumentality of the law.

"The general public are hereby implored to disregard the video and stop the dissemination of the same in the public space."

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