Afrobeats star Davido has reacted after Peter Obi explained how he built his wealth before politics, saying no Nigerian politician could make a similar disclosure publicly.
ABUJA, NIGERIA — Afrobeats singer Davido has stirred reactions after responding to a viral interview in which former Anambra State governor and 2027 presidential candidate Peter Obi explained how he built his wealth before entering politics.
According to the exchange, journalist Rufai Oseni shared a clip of Obi discussing his business background and challenged Nigerian politicians to publicly explain how they made their money. Davido responded to the post on X with a short message: “None of them can try it 😂😂.”
Data available to Newstridez show that Davido’s comment came after an old interview clip involving Obi resurfaced online and began attracting fresh attention. The clip focuses on Obi’s business career before public office, rather than presenting a new declaration of his assets.
In the interview, Obi said he had established a business career before becoming governor of Anambra State. He explained that he operated a brand and marketing management company and handled major international brands, including Heinz products. He also said he worked with South African Breweries and later moved into banking and other business interests.
Obi also said his business interests eventually expanded into retail and banking. According to the former governor, the company he had been involved with later became associated with a Cash and Carry business after he left and his brother took over. He further said he held substantial shares in banks and served on bank boards before entering government.
The former governor also discussed his financial position before politics, including an American Express Platinum card he said he obtained while living in the United Kingdom. He described it as one of the early cards issued to a limited number of customers, using the account as part of his explanation that his wealth existed before he became a public office holder.
Obi’s comments have renewed interest in previous questions surrounding his wealth and the Pandora Papers. In earlier interviews, he denied claims that he controlled $500 million offshore and said he would accept the forfeiture of his properties if investigators found more than about $15 million in the companies associated with the allegations.
The former governor has consistently maintained that the offshore structure linked to him and his family involved a legitimate trust arrangement used for savings, family planning and investments. He has also said the structure was not used to launder money and that he paid taxes on his income and investments.
The latest viral clip, however, has shifted attention away from the old controversy and towards a broader question: whether Nigerian politicians can publicly explain the sources of their wealth before entering government. That was the point behind Oseni’s challenge, which prompted Davido’s brief but widely shared response.
Davido’s comment quickly generated debate on X, with supporters praising him for backing Obi while critics questioned whether the singer’s own family background should also come under public scrutiny. Some users also challenged Davido to explain how members of his wealthy family accumulated their fortune.
The reactions have made the exchange bigger than a celebrity comment. Davido has increasingly spoken publicly about Nigerian politics and governance, particularly around elections and the country’s leadership. His response to the Obi clip therefore attracted attention from both entertainment followers and politically engaged Nigerians.
Obi, meanwhile, has continued to position himself around accountability and lower government spending as he prepares for the 2027 presidential contest. In a separate recent interview, he said excessive government spending and corruption encourage people to seek political office for the wrong reasons. He also argued that public officials should not become wealthier through politics than they were through their businesses.
The issue of political wealth has remained sensitive in Nigeria because candidates routinely face questions about their financial records, assets and business history. Nigerians have also become more interested in how politicians accumulated wealth before holding public office, particularly when candidates campaign on transparency and accountability.
Obi’s business explanation does not, by itself, establish that every claim surrounding his finances is correct. His statements represent his account of how he accumulated wealth, while previous investigations and allegations surrounding his offshore interests remain separate matters that require evidence and proper scrutiny.
Newstridez also found that Obi has previously said he had major business interests and significant wealth before becoming governor. He said his experience in business, including trading, banking and importing, provided the foundation for his finances before he entered politics.
The viral discussion comes as political parties and presidential hopefuls begin positioning themselves more openly ahead of the 2027 election. Obi is now the presidential candidate of the New Democratic Congress, while other major political figures are also preparing for what is expected to be a closely watched contest.
For Davido, the intervention was brief. He did not provide details about which politicians he believed could not make the same disclosure, nor did he directly endorse every claim made by Obi in the interview. His comment simply came in response to Oseni’s challenge asking politicians to explain how they acquired their wealth.
The response nevertheless sparked a fresh social-media debate, with Nigerians comparing the financial histories of politicians and public figures. Some users praised Obi’s willingness to discuss his business past, while others argued that similar scrutiny should apply to everyone, including wealthy entertainers and politically connected families.
As at the time of filing this report, Davido had not issued a longer explanation of his “None of them can try it” comment. Obi’s interview clip continued to circulate online, while Nigerians debated his account of his business history and the wider question of transparency among political office seekers.
The development is likely to keep the conversation around political wealth alive as the 2027 campaign gathers pace. For now, Davido Peter Obi has become a trending talking point after the singer’s two-line reaction turned an old interview about Obi’s wealth into a fresh national conversation about how Nigerian politicians make and disclose their money.
