The Board of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, has cancelled Jay Bahd’s nomination in the New Artiste of the Year category of the 24th edition of the scheme.

This is as a result of a petition made by broadcaster and VGMA Academy member Austine Woode on Joy FM’s Twitter Spaces two weeks ago. 

In his petition, Austine said on Joy Entertainment Unpacked that Jay Bahd had gotten a nomination in the Best Collaboration of the Year in 2021 together with Yaw Tog on the collaborative work, ‘Sore’, hence he was not new to the scheme. 

In a press release, the VGMA Board has announced that after deliberating on Austine’s petition, they have reviewed Jay Bahd’s nomination in the category. 

"One of the submissions made, which has generated high public interest, is Jay Bahd’s inclusion in the Best New Artiste category. After deliberations, the Board agrees that Jay Bahd is not new to the scheme, because of his shared nomination on Yaw Tog’s ‘Sore’ for Collaboration of the Year in 2021. This means, he’s not eligible as a nominee for the Best New Artiste category of the 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. The error has been corrected, and Jay Bahd and his team have been informed accordingly. The inconvenience is deeply regretted," they wrote.

The statement also indicates that, Jay Bahd’s decision was one out of a number of others that were presented by artistes, their managers and other industry stakeholders. 

This review was made possible by a one-week provisional window that the Board introduced this year for addressing errors and omissions in the nominations. 

Jay Bahd was nominated in the New Artiste of the Year category with artistes such as Ewura Abena, Lasmid,  Chief One, DJ Azonto, Malcolm Nuna and DJay. 

In the meantime, the grand finale of the 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards is slated for the 6th May, 2023. 

The event will come off at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre.