Portable yanked off Headies nominees’ list over One million Boys probe

The organisers of the Headies Awards have disqualified controversial singer, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly referred to as Portable from its forthcoming awards.

He was nominated as ‘Rookie of the Year’ alongside Fave, Magixx, AV, and Ugoccie also ‘Street-Hop Artiste’ alongside Belle Shmurda, Mohbad, Naira Marley and Goya Menor for Headies 2022

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But in a statement on Tuesday, the organisers announced that Portable had been dropped over his recent misconduct and link to ‘One Million Boys’, a notorious gang in Lagos.

The statement of the disqualification read partly, “Singer Portable loses Headies award nomination following controversy and investigation by the Nigeria Police Force, after allegedly claiming to be affiliated with the criminal group ‘1 million boys’

“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.”

Recently in a video, which went viral, Portable was heard saying he formed ‘One Million Boys’ and another notorious group known as Ajah Boys.

“Open your ears and hear me, Have you heard about Ajah Boys, One Million Boys, I’m their founder. Go and ask Sammy larry.”

He spoke Yoruba in the now-deleted video.

The singer however retracted his statement hours after police ordered his probe, claiming that he was referring to his fans as One Million Boys.

Since he came into limelight in December 2021 following the release of his song, ‘Zazu Zeh’, in which he featured top artiste and record label boss, Olamide, hardly a month had passed without Portable not being in the news for negative reasons.

The Headies had initially threatened to disqualify Portable as a result of an alleged death threat to co-nominees. However, after the singer received disqualification threat, he apologised.