Netizens blast Ilebaye for soliciting funds from her fans hours after winning N120 million
Ilebaye Odiniya shocked Nigerians by posting her account information for “gifts and contributions” on her X account hours after winning the N120 million grand prize from the Big Brother All Stars reality show on Sunday night.
Netizens were baffled as to why the newest millionaire still intended to accept cash gifts from fans.
Ilebaye, who as of Sunday was the reality show’s darling, began facing heavy backlash minutes after midnight on Monday from Nigerians, particularly fans who had passionately supported her throughout the gruelling nine-week journey by voting en masse to keep her in the Big Brother house each time she got nominated for eviction.
They were bewildered that the self-acclaimed “Gen Z Baddie” who won the highly coveted N120 million would post her bank account information for contributions from her fans instead of organising giveaways to show gratitude to her fan base.
“We’ve received information about fans planning to send gifts or contributions. Please refrain from sending money to any account that isn’t officially posted on Ilebaye’s verified accounts. For gifts, please send an email,” Ilebaye wrote on her X account 10 minutes after midnight on Monday. “The only accessible account is the Baye Tribe account (9608*** – Providus). We won’t be responsible for any misappropriation of funds. Thank you.”
But citizens criticised Ilebaye, describing her post as a weak and indirect means to solicit funds. The backlash was so much that Ilebaye later locked the reply section of her post.
This tweet sent widespread reactions through her fan base, with many feeling betrayed. @Nithsmit expressed stating, “You should be doing Giveaway to your fans for supporting you and not asking them to send you money after winning 120M.”
@Haywire_100 said, “Omo una mumu get phd. Some of una papa never chop but una dey contribute money for person wey dem just give 120m. Ppl dey hospital wey need money for treatment una no give. I pity next generation.”
@CritiqueCrib said “The 120M never finish na.”
But the BBNaija star denied she was soliciting funds and insisted she only wanted to ensure the “gifts” went to the right account.
“This tweet was solely to avoid people who WANT to gift falling into the hands of scammers,” the BBNaija All Stars winner explained on X. “We didn’t solicit for funds, we only highlighted the account we have access to.”
Still, netizens remained unconvinced and continued bashing Ilebaye on the microblogging platform.
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