Estranged business partner, Abu Salami has doubled down on his allegation that Davido ‘stole’ from him and has refused to repay because he is living a fake life to impress people.
In a video that surfaced on Friday evening, the photographer further delved into the nitty-gritty of his grouse with the Unavailable star.
In the video shared by investigative journalism platform, PIDOMNIGERIA, Abu explained that he won a contract of $500,000 (approximately N500 million) for football talent development.
He said he brought Davido on board as a celebrity to influence the project.
According to him, Davido got funds running into millions from him for the project but failed to honour his own side of the bargain.
For instance, he said, Davido cancelled several shoots and press conferences which could have positively impacted the project.
Abu said that after the musician failed to fulfil his obligations, he (Abu) has been trying to recover the funds sent to Davido without success.
Abu added that instead of paying back, Davido has been tried to intimidate him by throwing the name of his billionaire father, Dr. Deji Adeleke around while boasting of his father’s closeness to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).
He vowed not to back down in his efforts to recover his funds from Davido no matter the level of bullying or intimidation from the Afrobeats star.
READ TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO:
“The main thing is that negotiations are stalled because David cannot come up with the finances. We’ve given him options to pay in installments. We’ve given him options to pay half of the payment. He has come up with his egoistic attitude of trying to bully people and trying to bully me.
“First of all, David, that won’t work. I say this once again, you’re a thief. I am not mincing my words. And if you’re going to throw your father’s name in the mix, and say because your father is a billionaire, he’s going to contact the IGP, and he has promised you that he is going to handle the situation, I promise you that I will embarrass Mr. Adeleke.
“I will embarrass him because I won’t be bullied. You’re either going to pay me back the finances or have a problem to deal with. That decision is yours really.
“I will not stop fighting. I will not give up. I will be relentless. I have 46 boys in my camp that I have to feed every time. Not once have you thought to check on their welfare, how is Abu doing it?
“We had a business transaction. And I will say it to the public. What was our business? I won a contact of $500,000 and I approached David and said, ‘David, come into business with me. Influence this project. If you influence this project, you stand to make X,Y,Z.’ I opened up the business plan to him and he thought, ‘This is a lot of money’ because it is a lot of money. As I’m saying this to you, it’s been over a year.
“You’ve had opportunity to do your job. You’ve cancelled over three shoots and two press conferences. You have taken part in any of the screening phases. You haven’t posted this on social media and haven’t done anything influencing for this project.
“I have lost money. I’m in debt and I have lost my sponsorship. You think you’re going to bully me with your father’s name? Do I look like an illiterate?
“If you think your father knows the IG of police and you involve him, then I will drag the IG of police too on social media.
“You can’t keep smearing and throwing the weight of your father’s name around the place under the guise that you’re a celebrity, but you’re stealing from individuals and ruining their businesses and lives.
“Do you know what I’ve been through in the last one year? I have been to 20 states in Nigeria looking for talents. I have put my life on the line. I am mentoring boys, looking for clubs for them.
“I can’t sleep properly. I am dark because I’m in the sun everyday working my ass off, and you take money from the business and don’t influence the business, and you want to throw your weight around and say that you’re this or that. It’s not going to work.
“And if you also want to say that because you’re one cult member that I will be afraid of you, you’ve made another terrible mistake. With my two fists, mouth and brain that I have, I can’t be intimidated.
“I don’t have to be in a gang to fight you. I’ll fight you man to man like I’m doing now. I will drag you to the depths of hell. You’ll be frustrated. You’ll hate yourself. I promise you I won’t give up.
“And you can’t bully me. I have not committed any crime. I am fighting for what is rightfully mine. So yes, go and bring your dad. I promise you I will embarrass him. If Mr. Adeleke won’t tell you that, ‘David, what you’ve done is steal from this young man, spoil his business, affect his life, affect the chances of him getting sponsorship’, but he is just going to protect you under the umbrella that he is a billionaire, then I will drag him too. Anybody you bring, I will drag them.
“You are stealing from people and living a false life to impress who? You’ve put me in all kinds of debt. I don’t think you’ve realised the damage you’ve done to me maybe because I am a strong person by nature and I am not going through some kind of mental issue right now.
“You don’t know what my family has been doing to me in terms of making sure that I am right, that today I can sit in front of this camera and talk to people.
“Does it even bother you what you do to people when you take their finances and you don’t do your obligations as a person? Do you know what $500,000 contract is today? That’s N500 million.
“You cannot afford to give me that, because if you can afford to give me that, you’d have given it to me without all this fuss.
“You’ve blocked me on social media. You’ve blocked me on WhatsApp. Same with your lawyer because you guys think you’re smart and can get away with this because you’re a big brand. You cannot intimidate me.
“I have the text messages you sent to Larry Gaga. Apologising to your dad if I have insulted him by any means, shape or form is not a problem for me. Why not? But let Mr. Adeleke see my anger, my pain. Then I hope he gets to see this video.
“I am saying this to Mr Adeleke directly. ‘Daddy, I won’t lie to you. David is a thief. David steals from people. He throws his way around. And I have heard on numerous occasions that you’ve come to his aid to pay the finances of people for projects he has not been able to fulfil.
“‘Daddy, I insist that David is a thief. He is ruining people’s lives. He is ruining my life.'”
“David, when it comes to the issue of my security, I am not afraid. I sleep in my house every day…If you want to send people, I am not somebody that is hidden. I have dealt with numerous of celebrities. You can come to my house. I don’t have problem there.
“But let me tell you this. If you believe you’re going to bully me with you being a cultist, again you will fail. Look at me. I am too clean. You will fail. I have a text message where you’re telling me to join a confraternity. Do not implicate yourself any further. I warn you. I will expose you.”
Davido belongs to a cult and wanted to introduce me to it, i refused. He’s stealing from people and living a fake life to impress the world. Negotiations with him has failed because he does not have the money to pay back his debts
— Abu finally speaks pic.twitter.com/8UG6ZNIOsm
— Sabi Radio (@TheSabiRadio) October 27, 2023