Entertainment
Banky W emerges winner of PDP House of Reps ticket in Lagos
Popular Nigerian celebrity, Olubankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W, was declared the winner of the PDP primary for the Eti-Osa constituency House of Representatives ticket in the 2023 general election, TopNaija.ng reports.
Banky W had a landslide victory, polling 28 out of 31 votes cast by delegates at the primary. He contested against a legal practitioner, Mr Sam Aiboni, who polled three votes.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the delegates consisted of 31 ad hoc members of the PDP and one national delegate.
The Returning Officer, Mr Ayodele Kazeem, who declared the results, described the process as peaceful and transparent.
Banky W told NAN that the election was a free and fair one, he stated that he had won the election by the grace of God and the will of the people.
He expressed gratitude to the party for the opportunity to represent it and said that he was very thankful to the people as well.
“I am overwhelmed by the support of my constituency, the people, the ward chairmen, the leaders and the chieftains of the party.
“I feel the support even from the grassroots, honestly, I can’t be happier than I am now,” he said.
Banky added that he had a message, a vision and a mandate to do things better in the constituency and that he would achieve them through transparency, accountability and service.
“The real work begins now, the primaries are just the start and thankfully, we have the grace of God with us; we move,” he added.
NAN reports that if Rep. Babajide Obanikoro, son of former minister of state for defence, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro picks the APC return ticket in its upcoming primaries, he will be slugging it out with Banky W for the seat.
Wellington schooled in Lagos for his primary and secondary education and returned to further his tertiary education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, US on a scholarship. He started a record label Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E) in 2002 while studying. He also worked at GlobalSpec. In 2009, he left the US for Nigeria and established his record label in Lagos by signing artists like Niyola, Shaydee, Skales and Wizkid to the label. He released a début studio album, Back in the Building, in 2005.
His début single was Ebute Metta[5] He wrote the first theme song of Etisalat Nigeria titled “0809ja for life”.