Organizers of The Headies Awards 2022 edition have disqualified singer, Habeeb Okikiola, professionally known as Portable from the list of nominees for threatening to kill his co-nominees.
The Headies stated that Mr Habeeb Okikiola ( @portablebaeby ) was disqualified from its 15th nominees’ list to further pass a strong message of not condoning reckless and uncouth statements.
“The music industry demands all-round excellence, and it is extremely important for young artists being potential role models to exude professional responsibility, proper decorum and have respect for others.”
According to the organisers, Portable was disqualified due to a series of misdemeanours via his social media platforms.
Recall that on the 25th of May 2022, he threatened to kill, harm or cause harm to the other nominees in the same categories of awards he was nominated for if he does not emerge the winner.” Say The Headies
Portable was earlier nominated to contest in the ‘Rookie of the Year’ and ‘Best Street-Hop Artiste’ categories when The Headies unveiled the nominees for its 2022 edition.
Other nominees in the ‘Rookie of the Year’ category include Av, Fave, Magixx, and Ugocci.
For the second category, he is pitted against Bella Shmurda, Mohbad, Naira Marley, and Goya Menor among others.
Portable the ‘Zazuu’ crooner took to his Instagram page to make a threat to whoever wins the 2022 Headies Award over him.
However, not being pleased with Portable’s statement, organisers of the awards in a swift response said:
“We have notified the Nigeria police of Mr. Okokiola’s actions to fellow nominees. Also, demand for the immediate retraction of the video as well as a written apology to nominees in both categories and to The Headies has been made.
“Should Mr. Okikiola fail to meet our demands, we will not only disqualify him from participating in The Headies but also enforce the instrumentality of the law.
“The general public are hereby implored to disregard the video and stop the dissemination of the same in the public space,” The Headies noted.
Announcing Portable’s disqualification on Instagram Tuesday, the organisers shared the letter below:
