Toyin Abraham Says No to Lagos APC Campaign Council

Actress Toyin Abraham has said she is not part of the Lagos State All Progressives Congress Campaign Council. She stated that she is “staying out of politics” and asked the public to ignore reports of her membership in the council.

Abraham was named in the Entertainment and Creative Economy Directorate of the campaign council that Lagos APC announced on Thursday for the 2027 elections. Other names on the list include actors Jide Kosoko, Eniola Badmus, Bimbo Akintola, Adebayo Salami, Saheed Balogun, and Bukky Wright, as well as Fuji musicians like Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, Obesere, and Adewale Ayuba.

After seeing the list, Abraham took to her Instagram Story on Thursday to clarify her position. She said she had not joined any campaign council and had made her stance clear before.

“I’m not a member of any campaign council. I have said it recently. I am staying out of politics. Please disregard the supposed inclusion of my name in any campaign committee,” she wrote.

This announcement comes three years after Abraham faced backlash for publicly supporting President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election. The support brought her a lot of criticism and personal attacks on social media.

In March 2023, during a Twitter Space discussion, Abraham talked about the negative reactions she received. Supporters of Peter Obi had even petitioned Netflix to take her films off its platform. She shared screenshots of messages asking Checkers Custard to drop her as an ambassador and described how she received curses and insults aimed at her, her husband, Kolawole Ajeyemi, and their son.

The issues resurfaced many times after the election. In July 2024, PUNCH reported that social media users were still attacking her. The situation worsened after she took action against people who made derogatory and defamatory comments about her and her family.

One of the incidents involved a user on X called Big Ayo, who accused Abraham of using money linked to Tinubu to pay for her husband's hair transplant. Abraham denied this claim and reported it to the cybercrime authorities.

She later explained that she did not cause the arrest of Big Ayo’s mother, as some claimed online. She had filed a petition about what she called cyberbullying and defamatory content.

Big Ayo was later released from police custody after an online campaign and calls for his freedom. The arrest led to more criticism of Abraham. Some users threatened to report her films on streaming platforms, while others called for Netflix to remove her movies.

In July 2024, Abraham appeared on Instagram Live and emotionally spoke about the online attacks. She said she felt pushed to her limits.

“I want to die,” she said during the broadcast. She also mentioned that her child had been cursed and that she had faced long-term bullying and defamation. PUNCH reported that she said she was only exercising her rights as a citizen by filing a petition with the cybercrime department.

Abraham mentioned that she could handle insults directed at her but would not accept attacks involving her children. Her recent decision to distance herself from political campaigns follows a history of issues related to her political involvement, especially after her support for Tinubu in 2023.

Meanwhile, the Lagos APC campaign council lists Toke Benson-Awoyinka as Director of the Entertainment and Creative Economy Directorate, with Kosoko as Co-Director and Badmus as Deputy Director. Abraham is still listed as a member of the 33-person directorate in the published council document, despite her public rejection of the reported appointment.