Veteran Nollywood actor Fatai Adetayo, popularly known as Lalude, has accused the campaign teams of President Bola Tinubu and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of betrayal and neglect after actively supporting their 2023 general election campaigns.
In a candid interview on YouTube’s Behind the Fame channel, Lalude alleged that he and other Yoruba actors campaigned for the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates for over seven weeks without receiving the promised compensation.
“We spent one month and three weeks to campaign. They were giving us ₦10,000 daily for feeding, which was far below what was expected,” he said. “When they found out we were saving from it, they started delaying the payment. After we concluded the job, we didn’t get a dime.”
Lalude further accused a prominent figure in the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) of making unfulfilled financial promises. He said the individual called him and fellow actor Alapini to ask what they wanted, promising money and cars, which were never delivered.
“He promised to give us cars and said someone would give us ₦1.5 million. We are yet to see anything,” Lalude said, adding that they often trekked for miles during the campaign while others drove past.
Lalude, visibly aggrieved, invoked curses in Yoruba against those he claims blocked their rewards, declaring they would never prosper.
Supporting Lalude’s claims, actor Alapini also recounted how Governor Sanwo-Olu made promises during a visit, only for them to return home empty-handed. “I had to lie that we weren’t maltreated during the campaign just to protect the organisers,” he said.
The grievances echo recent complaints by other Yoruba actors, including Aminatu Papapa and Alapini, who have expressed regret for backing Tinubu during the elections due to what they described as lack of appreciation and broken promises.