Nollywood actress and filmmaker Toyin Abraham Ajeyemi was once unafraid to make her political choices public.
In 2023, the Nollywood actress publicly backed Bola Tinubu, then the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and defended her choice despite criticism from Nigerians on social media.
Three years later, however, Abraham is taking a very different position. The development marks another chapter in the actress’s complicated relationship with political conversations. That journey began with an outspoken endorsement, followed by intense backlash and eventually led to her decision to keep her political choices private.
2023: Why Toyin Abraham Backed Tinubu
Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, Toyin Abraham made no secret of her support for Tinubu.
In February 2023, she shared photos from a meeting with the then-APC presidential candidate and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Explaining her decision, the actress said she had listened to Tinubu discuss his “ideas, visions and strategy” for tackling Nigeria’s problems.
“Listening to him indeed renewed my hope and reaffirmed why he is my choice,” she wrote, ending the post with: “Jagaban is coming!”
Her support came amid a highly competitive presidential race involving Tinubu, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party.
Abraham’s political position quickly attracted criticism online. At the time, she pushed back against claims that she had been paid to support Tinubu. She said she had not collected money from the APC candidate and urged people to respect her right to choose who to support.
“I didn’t collect money,” she said, adding that people should “choose your candidate and don’t bully me.”
The Backlash That Followed
The criticism did not end with the election. In March 2023, Toyin Abraham said some supporters of Peter Obi had petitioned Netflix to remove her films and had also targeted brands associated with her. She shared screenshots of messages urging Checkers Custard to drop her as an ambassador.
She also said she was receiving insults and curses directed at her, her movie actor husband, Kolawole Ajeyemi, and their son, Ire.
The political debate eventually became more personal, with Abraham continuing to face criticism over the candidate she had chosen to support. By 2024, the actress was still dealing with the fallout from her decision to make that choice public.
2024: Lesson Learnt
On June 4, 2024, Abraham found herself responding to questions about what Tinubu’s camp had promised her during the 2023 campaign. Asked about the promises made to her, she said she had been assured of “good governance and happiness for everyone.” In her words:
“You asked me in a polite way so I will definitely answer you, offcourse I was told n promised good governance n happiness for everyone and wish I believe. If things didn’t go well why do I have to be the one to suffer for it because i remember I voted Jonathan and I was bullied but I didn’t put blame on anyone after everyone choose buhari. So please why would they be cursing n trolling me everytime.”
But when another netizen asked whether she believed Tinubu had failed in governance, Abraham pointed out that she was not a politician or government official. She then made what would become one of her clearest statements about her future approach to politics. She said:
“I have faced my life and career cos I am not a politician and I’m not in government, I have learnt my lesson never ever to be open with my choice again.”
The statement suggested a shift in how openly she intended to discuss her political preferences. Rather than saying she had changed her political beliefs, Abraham was clear about something else: she no longer wanted to make her political choice public.
The same period also brought another wave of controversy as she spoke emotionally about the attacks she said she and her family had faced online. The dispute later spilled into legal action over allegations and comments she described as cyberbullying and defamatory. See screenshot of her 2024 tweets below:
2026: Her Name Appears On APC Campaign Council
More than two years after saying she would no longer be open about her political choice, Toyin Abraham was pulled back into the political conversation in September 2026. On September 17, the Lagos APC released its campaign council list ahead of the 2027 elections.
Abraham’s name appeared under the Entertainment and Creative Economy Directorate alongside entertainers including Jide Kosoko, Eniola Badmus, Bimbo Akintola, Adebayo Salami, Saheed Balogun, Bukky Wright and Fuji musicians Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, Obesere and Adewale Ayuba.
According to the published list, Toke Benson-Awoyinka was named director of the directorate, with Kosoko as co-director and Badmus as deputy director. But Abraham said the listing did not represent her decision to join the campaign.
Toyin Abraham Takes Stance
Shortly after the list surfaced, Toyin Abraham took to her Instagram Story to clarify her position. She wrote:
“I’m not a member of any campaign council. I have said it recently. I am staying out of politics.”
She then asked the public to disregard her reported inclusion in any campaign committee. She added:
“Please disregard the supposed inclusion of my name in any campaign committee.”
The actress clarified her position again on September 18 after an X user suggested that rejecting the role could be a way of avoiding another round of online bullying. The actress said that was not the reason. She explained that she had woken up to discover her name on a list she knew “absolutely nothing about” and reiterated that she was not interested in politics. She tweeted:
“Bro, I didn’t do it because of any bully. I did it because it was the right thing to do. I woke up and saw my name on a list I knew absolutely nothing about. Moreover, I’ve already said it—I’m not interested in politics.”
Her response is significant because it separates her current position from the intense backlash she experienced after the 2023 election.
In 2023, she was willing to publicly defend her choice. In 2024, she said she had learnt her lesson and would no longer be open about her political choice. In 2026, she went further by saying she was staying out of politics altogether. See screenshot of her post below:
A Very Different Relationship With Politics
Toyin Abraham’s political journey over the past three years has therefore gone through several stages.
In 2023, she openly backed Tinubu, met with him and publicly explained why she believed he was her choice. That public position exposed her to sustained criticism, including attacks she said extended to her family.
In 2024, she acknowledged the toll of the controversy and said she had learnt her lesson about publicly revealing her political choice.
Then, in September 2026, her name appeared on an APC campaign council list without, according to her, her knowledge or agreement. She immediately denied being a member of the council and said she was staying out of politics.
For now, there is a clear difference between the actress’s name appearing on the published APC list and her own stated position. The Lagos APC document still lists her under the Entertainment and Creative Economy Directorate, while Abraham has publicly rejected the reported inclusion.
What has changed, at least publicly, is not necessarily a stated political allegiance but Abraham’s willingness to participate openly in political campaigning.
The actress who once ended a declaration of support with “Jagaban is coming” is now asking Nigerians to disregard her name on a campaign council list. This is a striking turn in a political journey that has been shaped as much by the backlash that followed her 2023 choice as by the choice itself.
