Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has challenged Afrobeats singer David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, over claims about campaign spending during the August 15, 2026 Osun State governorship election, alleging that the Accord Party spent at least ₦40 billion in the closely fought contest.

Fayose made the allegation in a video interview with TVC journalist Nifemi Oguntoye published on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, while responding to Davido’s claim that the All Progressives Congress spent about ₦110 billion on vote-buying during the election.

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Davido, who is the nephew of Osun Governor Ademola Adeleke, had also argued that the Accord Party did not rely on money to secure the governor’s re-election, saying the party’s victory was driven by the people of the state.

Fayose offered a sharply different account.

“Accord Party led the opponents.

The money that went to that election from the Accord party itself cannot be under N40 billion. I stand to be corrected,” Fayose said.

The former governor did not provide documentary evidence to substantiate the ₦40 billion figure.

His claim should therefore be treated as an allegation rather than an established account of campaign expenditure.

Fayose also alleged that more than ₦7.5 billion was distributed across local government areas and wards shortly before the election, with some wards allegedly receiving at least ₦35 million.

“In a ward of about 7, 8, 9 polling units,” Fayose said, while describing the alleged distribution.

Again, no independent evidence establishing the alleged payments was presented in the interview.

The competing claims have added another layer to the political fallout from an election that was already marked by accusations of vote-buying, financial interference and the use of state institutions.

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Ademola Adeleke the winner with 511,067 votes, while APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji secured 444,815 votes.

African Democratic Congress candidate Najeem Salaam finished third with 17,180 votes.

Adeleke’s winning margin was therefore 66,252 votes.

Fayose argued that the result should not be reduced to spending alone, pointing instead to the Adeleke family’s longstanding political strength in Ede.

“The Adelekes are rooted in their hometown. Omisore or APC has no presence,” Fayose said.

Fayose claimed that about 46,000 votes of Adeleke’s overall margin came from Ede, arguing that the political advantage in the area was difficult for the APC to overcome.

He also suggested that the APC should consider challenging the result in court if the party believed there were grounds to contest the figures.

“I think they should go to court,” Fayose said.

The controversy over election finances had already intensified before polling day.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission froze an Osun State Government account on August 5, 10 days before the election, after directing the bank to place the account under a “Post No Debit” restriction.

The EFCC said its action was unrelated to the election and followed what it described as suspicious transfers from state accounts.

The commission said it had been investigating alleged handling of about ₦11 billion in Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee funds since March 2026.

Governor Adeleke disputed the action and described it as politically motivated, while the state government moved to challenge the restriction in court.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu subsequently directed the EFCC to return to court and vacate the restriction, according to the Presidency.

That episode became part of the wider political atmosphere surrounding the election, with the APC and Accord Party trading allegations over the use of public institutions and financial resources.

Fayose’s latest intervention also pushes back against the narrative that Adeleke’s victory was achieved entirely through popular enthusiasm without significant campaign spending.

“The fact remains that both parties spent stupendously. They spent beyond the threshold like every other political party,” Fayose said.

The statement is significant because Nigeria’s Electoral Act establishes limits on campaign expenditure, making credible documentation of campaign financing important when allegations of spending on such a scale emerge.

Yet the available public evidence does not independently establish Fayose’s ₦40 billion estimate for Accord or Davido’s ₦110 billion allegation against the APC.

The exchange between the two figures also carries a personal political dimension.

Davido’s family connection to Adeleke has made his public defence of the governor a recurring feature of the campaign, while Fayose remains a prominent Peoples Democratic Party figure who has recently made a series of comments about the Osun election and President Tinubu.

Despite the controversy, the election result itself remains clear.

Adeleke secured a second term after defeating Oyebamiji by more than 66,000 votes, winning 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, according to the figures cited in reports of the election.

For Fayose, however, the figures tell only part of the story.

His argument is that the contest involved substantial financial mobilisation on both sides and that the Adeleke family’s established support base, particularly in Ede, was a decisive advantage.

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The competing claims now leave a broader question for electoral stakeholders: whether future elections can provide clearer transparency around campaign financing and the movement of political funds.