The “Iyawo Mi” hitmaker sparked a debate on X after tweeting, “Stop making enemies because of politics.” What followed was not a quiet online scroll. Some X users called him a “hypocrite,” questioning why Nigerians should be friends with “those who don’t put humanity first,” and they suggested that his performance at All Progressives Congress events influenced the advice.
Comedian Klinton Cod slammed Dakolo, who had appealed to Nigerians not to make enemies among themselves because of politicians. His response was pointed. Klinton Cod said if only curses worked, he would have prayed for leprosy to afflict the hands Timi used in typing the post, arguing that Nigerians are fighting the very same government and its agents destroying their lives through bad governance.
Klinton Cod said Dakolo’s family lives abroad, and so he does not understand the severity of the bad governance Nigerians face every day. That point landed hard online. He argued further that Nigerians are not fighting against politicians but against the bad governance affecting their lives on a daily basis.
In a subsequent post, Dakolo clarified his remarks, saying his experience of politicians from different parties interacting cordially when cameras were off shaped the original post. He was more specific than the first tweet. He said, “I’ve been in rooms with these men in politics when the cameras are off, and they are not fighting. The first time I witnessed it, I was shocked. I saw them hugging each other and asking about each other’s families, projects, and businesses.”
He said political loyalty often divides supporters, sometimes leading to deadly disputes, even as the politicians they support maintain cordial relationships. The fuller statement did little to quiet the critics. Some replies on X went further, pulling up a separate controversy entirely.
Online critics invoked the 2019 case in which Dakolo’s wife, photographer Busola Dakolo, accused Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly of rape. Busola had dragged the pastor before an Abuja High Court, seeking justice and compensation over an alleged rape she said was committed against her in 2002, when she was a teenager.
An FCT High Court sitting in Bwari dismissed the suit filed by Busola Dakolo against Pastor Fatoyinbo and also ordered Dakolo’s lawyer to pay N1 million for wasting the court’s time. The court did not rule on the underlying allegation. Justice Oathman Musa held that the matter amounted to injustice and an abuse of judicial process and that the case was empty and purely sentimental.
The Nigeria Police Force had said the probe into the allegation of rape against Fatoyinbo was slow because the alleged crime took place 20 years ago. Critics on X used both the dismissed suit and the police response to question Dakolo’s call for political tolerance. Others, however, defended the tweet, describing it as an innocent opinion and well-meaning advice.
Dakolo also addressed claims about party affiliation directly, pushing back on suggestions that his post served a political paymaster. He said, “I’m not affiliated with any political party, but I’m just telling you the truth.” That denial did not settle the argument either. The performance-at-APC-events reference kept resurfacing in reply threads through Friday.
Dakolo said, “These are the people we fight each other over and divide ourselves because of, and that’s how they win. They divide us, and we fight among ourselves.” The statement drew both agreement and stronger opposition. Neither side appeared ready to step back.
As the 2027 election draws nearer, political debates are intensifying, with Nigerians comparing the scorecard of the current administration and deciding whether to return it to power, and these debates tend to pit Nigerians against each other. Dakolo’s post dropped into that charged atmosphere. The timing made a routine call for civility read, for many Nigerians, as political positioning.
No response from Pastor Fatoyinbo or the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly about the renewed online references to the 2019 case was recorded as of Saturday. Klinton Cod had not posted a follow-up as of the same time. The original Dakolo posts remained live on X.
Supporters of Dakolo’s position argued that the singer was describing a documented political reality, not defending bad governance. Critics maintained the message was badly timed at a moment when millions of Nigerians are absorbing rising costs, persistent insecurity, and unreliable public services.
The online split over Timi Dakolo’s political enemies post shows no sign of narrowing, as Nigeria’s increasingly contentious 2027 election campaign continues to sharpen the edges of every public statement by figures with national visibility.
