Lilian Afegbai has hit back at the organisers of the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards 2026 after being left out of the nominations despite her widely praised performance in the Netflix series To Kill a Monkey. The crime thriller, created by Kemi Adetiba and released in July 2025, earned eight nominations, including nods for Bucci Franklin and directing by Akinola Davies Jr., but Afegbai was absent from the acting categories. Her portrayal of Idia, the wife of Franklin's character Oboz, drew strong audience reactions for its authenticity, nuanced expression and commanding screen presence. In a viral online post, Afegbai dismissed the awards, telling organisers to "eat your award." The statement has intensified discussions around recognition and fairness in Nollywood's award systems.
This year's AMVCA nominations are led by Gingerrr and The Herd, each with nine nods, followed by To Kill a Monkey with eight and My Father's Shadow with seven. Acting nominees include Lateef Adedimeji, Bimbo Akintola, Genoveva Umeh and Sola Sobowale, while Tunde Kelani and Akinola Davies Jr. are up for directing honours. The ceremony will take place on May 9, 2026, in Lagos, featuring 32 categories, with veteran actress Joke Silva serving as head judge. New categories have been introduced to boost representation for indigenous language content.
Lilian Afegbai's "eat your award" jab lands differently because she's not just an actress but a producer who understands the machinery behind Nollywood's shine. That a performance in a globally streamed project like To Kill a Monkey—backed by audience acclaim and project-wide recognition—still gets overlooked suggests the awards' credibility is fraying. When even the system's participants stop believing in its output, the trophies risk becoming props in a fading spectacle. For Nigerian creatives, this signals that visibility no longer depends on AMVCA's stamp.
