Emmanuel Godson Odiniya has broken his silence on tensions with his daughter, BBNaija All Stars winner Ilebaye Odiniya. He made explosive allegations in an audio recording shared online by journalist Jeremiah Promise Enemona Ocheme on Sunday.
The father is currently receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Abuja. He claims his daughter refused to help him financially when he needed it most.
According to Odiniya, he played a crucial role in her victory on the reality show. He mobilised support across Kogi State and leveraged his political connections to secure votes for her.
Governors and other officials donated money to buy airtime for voting, he explained. He felt certain she would acknowledge their efforts after winning the competition.
"I used my influence seriously to make people of Kogi State and all over vote massively for my daughter," he said in the recording. "Even governors of some states and my colleagues donated money which was used in buying the IUC."
Odiniya alleged his daughter never publicly thanked the people who supported her journey. He said she especially owed gratitude to members of the Kogi community who backed her.
Beyond the voting issue, he painted a troubling picture of their relationship over the years. He claimed Ilebaye had repeatedly disrespected and insulted him throughout her life.
He alleged there were physical confrontations between them. Odiniya also accused her of advising him to divorce her mother.
The reality star allegedly exposed her younger brother to substance abuse, he claimed. This later caused behavioural problems at the boy's school, according to him.
The latest conflict centered on money for a medical trip to Dubai. Odiniya asked Ilebaye to lend him funds temporarily because expected money hadn't arrived yet.
She refused, he told the journalist. Just a week earlier, she had been openly spending large sums at a colleague's wedding.
"My daughter told me she doesn't have money," he recounted in the recording. "A week before that, come and see how my daughter was spraying bundles of money at the wedding of one of her colleagues whom they call Cross."
He wasn't objecting to her supporting friends, Odiniya insisted. But he questioned why she couldn't help her own father when he was in need.
"I will be happy if my daughter supports her colleagues, but what about your father?" he asked. "If you help your father, is anything wrong?"
The tension escalated into violence at their Abuja residence. Odiniya was arrested over the alleged assault of Ilebaye at Royal Anchor Estate, Wuye.
A video showing Ilebaye in tears with facial swelling went viral on Saturday. She was calling for help during the altercation in the footage that spread online.
