Nigerian singer Eedris Abdulkareem has claimed that when his most recent song, “Tell Your Papa,” was banned, unknown people tried to bribe him with N200 million.
The rapper questioned the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s government in the song that was published on Monday. He called Tinubu’s “too many empty promises” “balablu grammar” and blasted him for it.
Nigerian radio and television stations would eventually be prohibited from playing the song by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
NBC argued that ‘Tell Your Papa’ violated public decency standards on broadcast platforms.
In an Instagram post on Friday, Abdulkareem narrated a phone conversation with someone who initially claimed to be an “honourable” and later identified himself as a senator.
The rapper said the caller offered him N200 million, which he refused to accept.
“He told me he is an honourable. The [person] was telling me that, ‘I was in a meeting yesterday with Seyi and this government, they’re trying to call you and bribe you, don’t listen to them. We are going to be sponsoring you underground,’” he said.
“I said, ‘Who told you that I need anything?’. As I heard his voice, I know say this one na send wey dem send am. I said I’m not interested. He said ‘We’ll give you N200 million. Don’t even listen to them, we’ll sponsor you underground’.”
The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) had earlier condemned the ban of Abdulkareem’s song.