The public helped Shatta Wale win the awards – 3Music Awards founder

Sadiq Abdulai Abu, the founder of 3Music Awards, has defended Shatta Wale’s massive win at this year’s ceremony.

The second edition which happened at the Accra International Trade Fair Centre on Saturday, March 30, saw the controversial dancehall musician sweep eight awards on the night.

But after the win, Ghanaians criticised the organisers, claiming the awards he won were used as a compensation for his performance.

However, Sadiq Abdulai Abu has rebutted the claims saying the awards picked up by Shatta Wale genuinely came from the public. He said Shatta Wale didn’t even get enough votes from the board.

“The public helped Shatta Wale win the awards. Not the Board. He didn’t get enough votes from the Board and Academy,” he told Hitz FM on Wednesday, April 3.

He also argued that fans shouldn’t criticise the award scheme because more voting power was given to the public than the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. “When VGMA gave the Board more power, you had something to say. When we (3 Music Awards) decided to give more power to the public, you equally had something to say.”

Shatta Wale was also quick to defend himself on Twitter saying: “Aaaahhhh now Ghana will know ..no wonder Ghanaians will always vote for president and not parliament..Funny industry..Like if u do shows don’t include the public errrhh @Hitz1039FM if Ibe public like ago win aaaa [sic].”

The public helped @shattawalegh win the awards. Not the Board. He didn't get enough votes from the Board & Academy. – @sadiqabdulaiabu #DaybreakHitz #3MusicAwards19 pic.twitter.com/9MuzvEf6q6

— Hitz 103.9 FM (@Hitz1039FM) April 3, 2019

On why some billed artistes didn’t get the chance to perform, Sadiq blamed it on the late start of the event and added that his team will do a full post-mortem to draw the ills.

“We started setting up from Monday. However, things happened on the day of the event. We need to do a full post-mortem to draw out the ills. On the day of the event, certain things could happen. Irrespective of your dry-run.”