Nigerian singer, filmmaker and politician Bankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W, has revealed that losing the 2023 election left him heartbroken and eventually led him into pastoral ministry.
Banky W disclosed this while marking his first anniversary in pastoral ministry in the United States.
Reflecting on the experience, he said the election loss affected him deeply and forced him to reconsider the direction of his life.
“In 2023 I lost an election. And while the experience inspired me in many ways, it also broke my heart into a million little pieces,” he wrote.
He said that after the election, he returned to God for direction and surrendered his plans.
“When the dust settled, I took those pieces back to God. And I surrendered,” Banky W said.
According to him, he began questioning whether his future should be in leadership or ministry, entertainment or business.
He later realised that he did not have to abandon one part of his life to pursue another.
“And somewhere along the way, I realised that I was asking God to choose between things He had never asked me to separate,” he said.
“It wasn’t either/or. It was all of the above.”
Banky W said the experience changed his understanding of purpose and convinced him that his responsibilities were expanding rather than narrowing.
“Turns out, God wasn’t trying to put me in a box. He was expanding my assignment,” he added.
The entertainer said he now combines his work as a filmmaker, musician and entrepreneur with his responsibilities as a pastor and professor.
He also joked about his transition into ministry, recalling how he once insisted that the letter “P” in his name, P. Banks, stood for professor rather than pastor.
“I used to joke that the ‘P’ in P.Banks stood for Professor, not Pastor. I guess God heard and said, ‘Why not both?’” he wrote.
Banky W also spoke about the demands of regularly travelling between Lagos and the Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia area to fulfil his different responsibilities.
“Constantly travelling back and forth between Lagos and the DMV isn’t always easy. But has it been worth it? Absolutely,” he said.
Looking back on the election setback, Banky W said the experience had taught him that disappointment could sometimes open the door to a different path.
“One year later, I’m reminded that sometimes what feels like the end of your story is really just God turning the page,” he said.
“The election didn’t go the way I hoped. But God’s plans for my life are bigger than the plans I had for myself.”
Banky W contested the 2023 House of Representatives election for Eti-Osa Federal Constituency in Lagos State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He lost the election to Thaddeus Attah of the Labour Party.
