the president of the Screen Actors Guild of NigeriaAGN, Emeka Rollas, had dissociated the guild from the Nollywood actors who visited the national leader of the Congress of All Progressives (APC), Tinubu Ball.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that after months of speculation, Tinubu formally declared his intention to run for the country’s presidency in 2023.
He revealed this to journalists after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on January 10.
In November 2021, Nollywood actor John Okafor (Mr. Ibu), along with his peers such as Foluke Daramola, Harry Anyanwu, and Benedict Johnson, endorsed Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
Although the APC party stalwart had not yet officially declared his ambition at the time, Mr. Ibu and his colleagues supported him anyway.
The occasion was a reunion themed ‘Southwest Stands with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’ as the actors unanimously argued that Tinubu had shocked people.
Several backlashes received a viral video clip of the proceedings from Nigerians who criticized the partisan alliances of the actors. Anyanwu was caught on camera saying, “One day, Asiwaju will rule Nigeria.”
AGN reacts
On Thursday, Rollas, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, said the union is nonpartisan and has no political affiliation.
“Let me clear this up; The actors are not supposed to be political, more especially when two or three actors get together. They shouldn’t be following a politician, and they should get together and do their own business, which is making movies.”
Although the infamous endorsement occurred in November 2021, the AGN was forced to issue a statement condemning the visit after a controversial Portharcourt-based pastor, Kassy Chukwu, recently cursed the actors for visiting Mr Tinubu.
In the viral video, the cleric could be heard condemning the actors, saying their endorsement of the APC chief would be “the end of him.”
In reaction to Mr. Chukwu’s call, the AGN frowned at the cleric’s comments. According to the declaration signed by the president of the AGN national task force, McSmith Ochendo, on Wednesday, the union declared that AGN is a non-political and non-profit association.
The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to a trending video of an apostle Kassy Chukwu, the self-proclaimed oracle of the nation. In the video, Apostle Kassy @kassychukwu_official could be seen swearing and slandering some members of the Screen Actors Guild of Nigeria who paid a courtesy call on Senator Bola. Ahmed Tinubu”.
“He went further in making fun of the Nollywood industry, a sector that contributes more than five percent to the nation’s GDP.
“This is highly offensive and degrading to the Nigerian Screen Actors Guild. The individual actors who visited Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu do not represent the Screen Actors Guild of Nigeria. As individual actors, they are free to visit, promote and even endorse whomever they deem fit to hold the highest office in the country.
“The Screen Actors Guild of Nigeria is a non-political, non-profit association. It is an individual’s prerogative to support whomever he sees fit, and it is not enough for a so-called man of God to warn and call out all of NOLLYWOOD and their families.
“It baffles us that a man claiming to be a servant of God can be seen casting curses on members and families all over Nollywood. He is very defamatory. We call on CAN/PFN and all other Christian organizations to call this Pastor of nescience and his Luciferian preaching to order. Enough is enough. NB. NO MAN HAS A MONOPOLY ON CYBER BULLYING.”