Habeeb Okikiola, known to millions as Portable, is a Nigerian street-hop singer whose breakout hit Zazu Zeh made him a household name. He is also known for a long record of controversies, from clashes with the police to public feuds with fellow musicians and, most recently, open boasting about money earned on the campaign trail for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The latest claim: ₦100m from Yayi
Portable said on Friday that he woke up to a ₦100 million credit from Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, as reward for his campaign activities. In a video, he wore an APC-branded shirt and a cap bearing the politician's name, and showed campaign materials featuring him. He said he had at first doubted people who told him Yayi was looking for him, because earlier promised money from the same quarter never reached him. The claim comes from Portable alone. No bank record, payer or APC statement has confirmed it, and Chronicle NG described it as unverified.
It is the newest chapter in a political story that has been running for years. In 2022, he claimed the APC paid him to support Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2023 election. After that year's Osun governorship election, he was filmed celebrating the PDP's Ademola Adeleke's victory, to the anger of critics who accused him of ditching the party that had paid him. In September 2025, he told Premium Times he would back any 2027 candidate who paid him first. He later drew backlash for threatening Yorubas with spiritual consequences if they did not back Tinubu in the next general elections.
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In October, he performed at an APC rally at Onikan Stadium in Lagos, where he was filmed lying on the floor, complaining of the heat and appealing to Tinubu and his son Seyi for more money. He confirmed he had already been paid, but insisted his efforts warranted extra compensation.
The song that made him
Portable gained traction with Zazu Zeh, featuring the rapper Olamide and the dancer Poco Lee. This month, in a live Instagram session, he described how the song's royalties were shared among Olamide, Poco Lee, the producer Kogbagidi and others, according to Legit.ng. The session took place in November 2026. No figures from the split have been independently verified. The topic is a sensitive one for him. He had earlier called out Poco Lee for allegedly ripping him off on the hit.
A record of run-ins with the law
His clashes with the police stretch back several years. In June 2022, the Ogun State police declared him wanted over a viral video showing an assault on DJ Chicken, and he turned himself in on 29 June.
The best-known case came in 2023. Videos went viral of him cursing and confronting officers who came to arrest him at his bar, and police said he had ignored five invitations. Police arrested him at the Ogun command's headquarters in Abeokuta after a 72-hour ultimatum expired. He was arraigned in Ogun State on six counts bordering on assault. Police said the underlying petition came from a man who claimed Portable had assaulted him the previous year. During the confrontation, he told officers he was a superstar and a "federal government liability."
In February 2025, the Ogun police declared him wanted again, this time over an alleged assault on officers of a state planning and development permit authority. The police said the officers fled with multiple injuries.
Jailed in Kwara, freed after a withdrawal
In April 2025, an Ilorin court granted him ₦1 million bail on charges of criminal defamation, intimidation, inciting disturbance and cyberstalking, but he was remanded in prison because he could not meet the conditions. The case followed a dispute with Fuji star Saheed Osupa, who reported Portable's song Fuji Shakushaku for copyright infringement, leading to its removal from Apple Music, and accused him of defaming him in an Instagram live on 19 March. Osupa later withdrew the case, according to his management.
He has also had debt trouble. A Lagos police detention over an unpaid balance on a G-Wagon was reported. The vehicle was valued at ₦27 million, and he had paid only ₦13 million.
Feuds, and conduct on stage
He has also been in public disputes with other artistes. Legit.ng reported that he accused Zlatan of being a thief and disputed the ownership of the ₦500 million displayed in the rapper's account, insisting it was "loader" money that did not actually belong to him. The report is undated, the allegations are Portable's own, and they are unproven.
In September 2026, a video showed him grabbing a female dancer by the waist on stage. It surfaced on Instagram on Monday, 14 September 2026, and drew widespread criticism.
His personal conduct has also drawn headlines. In July 2024, he claimed to be the founder of two gangs, Ajah Boys and One Million Boys, then, after criticism, said he had not meant to campaign for the APC and that his life was under threat. He also denied any affiliation with crime gangs. Earlier reports described him dragging his wife online, and then flying her to Nairobi for a show.
Business and bravado
Portable runs the Zeh Nation label and a bar and restaurant in Sango Ota, Ogun State. He once sacked studio workers after revenue dropped from ₦15 million to ₦7,000, according to Daily Trust. His tours have taken him to the UK, the US, Kenya and South Africa.
What remains unclear
What stands out is how many of the claims in his story rest on his own word: the royalty split, the Zlatan accusations and the ₦100 million alert. Whether a man who says openly that he sells his political support to the highest bidder has been paid what he says, and by whom, is the question that the APC and Yayi have yet to answer.
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