Alleged Abandonment: Popular O to ge musician, Labaika, reportedly attack Kwara APC leaders

By Mumini AbdulKareem

Popular Ilorin musician, Ibrahim Labaeka, last night reacted to online report alleging him of attacking leaders and stakeholders of the Kwara State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for abandoning him after the last general elections in the state.
The incident was said to have taken place at a Nikkah ceremony held in Ilorin last weekend where the musician who claimed he originated the ‘O to ge’ lyrics was contracted to perform.
The online report which was accompanied by a video of Labaeka performing on stage and attacking certain APC leaders noted that the musician used the opportunity to vent his anger over the way he was reportedly abandoned after his prominent role in the ‘O to ge’ struggle.
The report further alleged that Labaeka described the party’s action as betrayal of his trust and pointed accusing fingers at the prominent APC stalwarts on seat that, “It’s a shame that after their 100 days in office, the government hasn’t deem it fit to buy him musical instruments despite his contribution to the struggle which made the party to win the last general elections in the state.
“During the inauguration in May, I was sleeping at home when a friend called me that the artists that were invited to Metropolitan Square to perform at Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s inauguration are those who did not partake in the “O to ge’ struggle, it was raining but I dared that rain and quickly rushed there and saw that the story was true. I confronted some of the artists that what was their business trying to reap under the government that they didn’t work for.
“I give you (pointing to APC leaders on seat) one month to get me instruments for my career, if not, it means all of you are not responsible. And if you fail to buy me the instruments, my fans in Lagos and across the country are ready to get it for me within one month,” the musician was quoted to have said.
But speaking with this reporter, last night, Labaeka who confirmed the video and incident however denied attacking Governor Abdulrazaq or any APC leader during the event.
According to him, those referred to in the video was the Kwara State chapter of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) over their alleged gang up to deny him of the opportunity to rent musical instrument for his performance over his role during the ‘O to ge’ struggle and for dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“What do I want that God has not done for me? I am comfortable and I don’t look up to anybody for my feeding and existence. God has been really kind to me. I now even hold private meeting with the Governor and we discussed, so, where will I attack him or any APC leader in the state.
“The video that was posted online was abridged and I have the audio and video of the event recorded and still intact. I will respond to the situation at the appropriate time on my Facebook page. What really happened was that I was telling the APC members about the gang up by PMAN not to allow me rent and use their musical instruments for shows because of my role during the ‘O to ge’ struggle and for my decision to dump the PDP. I don’t have the time of the person that posted the video. What he did was to extract a certain portion to make it seem like I was attacking APC leaders. But that was never the case,” I was calling on APC leaders to purchase the instrument in order to shame PMAN for their decision”, he stated.