Franc Ashinze 
Following his recent menacing behaviour, the board of the Headies Award, Nigeria’s biggest and most coveted honour for contributing to music in Nigeria and Africa, has decided to withdraw Portable’s 2022 nominations.
Born Habeeb Okikiola, Portable was nominated in two categories; The Rookie of The Year and The Best Street Artist of The Year.
In a viral social media post, Portable had ranted about being the founder of Lagos gang and cult group ‘1 million boys.’ The viral post had come off the claim that he was paid to influence the recently concluded Osun state gubernatorial election.
The police invited Portable for questioning, but not much has developed since then. However, the Headies has moved swiftly, releasing an official statement to disqualify the singer.
The statement was released on Tuesday, July 26 and part of it read: “We regret to announce that following numerous indicting statements made by Mr. Habeeb Okikiola popularly known as ‘Portable’, and the incessant negative attention that Mr Okikiola has garnered from the Nigeria Police and the general public in recent times, the organisers of the Headies have resolved to disqualify Mr Okikiola as a nominee at the forthcoming 15th Headies Awards. Being subject of an investigation relating to criminal activities, Mr Habeeb Okikiola is hereby disqualified from both categories of awards at the forthcoming 15th Annual Headies Awards scheduled to hold later this year.”
A highly controversial figure, Portable rose to fame with the release of Zazu Zeh featuring Olamide in late 2021. Since then, he’s been more involved in criminal cases more times than he’s dropped subsequent successful records.
He reacted to the development via his Instagram stories, saying he has money, wife, car, house, and that he doesn’t regret his actions.
To see the full and updated 2022 Headies Award nominations and to find out when and where the ceremony will hold, check out this POST.
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