Dr Deji Adeleke, billionaire businessman and father of Afrobeats star David ‘Davido’ Adeleke, has publicly addressed the long-running DNA controversy involving his son, stating that multiple paternity tests have conclusively shown that the teenage girl at the centre of the claim is not Davido’s child.
Speaking during a press briefing that went viral on Wednesday, Dr Adeleke said the family took the allegation seriously from the outset and would have accepted the child without hesitation if the results had proven otherwise.
The controversy revolves around Ayo Labinjo, an Ibadan-based woman who alleged that she had sexual relations with Davido during one of his early career visits to the city, resulting in the birth of a baby girl, Anu. She accused the singer of abandoning the child.
The issue recently resurfaced after an Instagram account said to belong to the girl appealed publicly to Davido to undergo another DNA test. In response, the singer stated last week that he had already conducted multiple DNA tests, all of which confirmed that the girl is not his daughter.
Davido spoke out after 12-year-old Anu Adeleke allegedly wrote an open letter on social media, claiming she was being bullied in school for not knowing her father and urging the singer to address the matter publicly.
Addressing the situation for the first time, Dr Adeleke said the family had no intention of denying any child and would have embraced her if paternity had been established.
“I am Deji Adeleke. I’m the father of five children—three boys and two girls. David Adeleke, who you all know as Davido, is the baby of my family, he’s the last,” he said.
“I’m calling this press conference, and this is my very first time addressing the press, and for just one single reason. I’m not on social media, but I’m sure those of you on social media have been inundated with all kinds of talks about this issue that keeps coming up almost every year.”
He noted that the allegation, repeatedly amplified by Kemi Olunloyo, concerns a girl named Anuoluwapo, who resides in Ibadan and has been claimed to be Davido’s child.
Tracing the origin of the controversy, Dr Adeleke said he first became aware of the claim in 2014, when he received a DHL package from Ibadan containing photographs of Davido and the child, a birth certificate listing “Adeleke David” as the father, and a letter reportedly written by the child’s grandmother.
He stressed that the family followed due process, conducted DNA tests, and stood by the results, which showed that Davido is not the biological father of the child.
