Seun Kuti, the Afrobeat singer, says he was a “fool” when he campaigned for Bola Tinubu, the former Lagos governor, in 1999.

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Tinubu is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of this month’s election.

In a recent video, the controversial singer said he was “young and naïve” when he campaigned for the then-Lagos governor.

The musician, who is the son of Fela Kuti, the late Afrobeat icon, said he worked for Tinubu because of his father’s relationship with the politician.

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Seun said despite his own relationship with Tinubu in 1999, he never used it as an opportunity to “behave recklessly”.

“Na me campaign for Tinubu in 1999. Why? Because I knew him with my father. I followed him. I did Yoruba politics. Yoruba would be free from this Nigeria because I was a fool. I was a fool in those days. I was young. I was naive. I believed in what I could see. But the more I understood, the more I learn,” he said in a mixture of Pidgin and English.

“I didn’t just stay in that position of privilege thinking that yes, I don arrive. I know Tinubu. I can do anything wey I like. While I was there, I continued to study, lead and develop my political consciousness.

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“If what we are saying is true. If we are looking for the best way to be, then we must all continue in a certain way to work and be better. To be better knowledgeable. So, the more I continued to study, the more the evidence in front of me proved to me that these people are not what say they are.

“And I can guarantee you that Tinubu cannot say he has seen me in almost 10 years. More than 10 years if care is not taken. He cannot tell anybody that I saw Seun here or Seun called me there. And in more than 15 years he would tell you that Seun o ti se political anything pelu wa.

“As soon as I saw that what was happening there was false and selfish, I stepped away. It no longer matches my political consciousness. So, that’s growth and I accept that for everybody.”

Seun recently attracted the ire of some social media users when he described Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, as “an opportunist”.

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