Socialite and businessman Paschal “Cubana Chief Priest” Okechukwu has called on Easterners to support President Bola Tinubu’s bid for a second term.
Cubana Chief Priest, who serves as the Imo State Director of the City Boy Movement (CBM), appealed in a statement accompanying a video he posted on Instagram on Wednesday.
The video showed a South-east monarch urging Mr Tinubu to either release the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu or return him to Kenya.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Lawrence Agubuzu, the traditional ruler of Ezema Olo Community, made the call on Tuesday during the 2026 National Traditional and Religious Leaders Summit on Health held at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja.
He appealed to the President to release Mr Kanu in the interest of peace in the South-east.
The newspaper earlier reported that Mr Kanu was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism by a Federal High Court in Abuja in November 2025. He is serving his sentence at a correctional facility in Sokoto State.
Cubana Chief Priest
Reacting to the monarch’s appeal, Cubana Chief Priest argued that securing Mr Kanu’s release would require political support from the South-east for Mr Tinubu’s re-election bid.
He added that the monarch’s presence in Abuja was crucial to ensuring the President received first-hand accounts of the South-east’s concerns and grievances.
He said, “His (the monarch’s) last words, Mr President, we will do all we can, but please hear our cry, Bola Tinubu. The message is obvious. God bless you, your royal highness, for partaking in Nigeria. If your highness did not participate in Abuja, how Asiwaju wan take hear this message.
“If you say dem no record this video play for una, them for call his royal highness sell out say him don go collect money. Alignment is key, we no fit fight the government, Asiwaju go free MNK, his royal highness don put am for baba body.”
Igbo President
Additionally, Cubana Chief Priest called on the South-east to reassess their political position, noting that Mr Tinubu secured victory in the 2023 election despite receiving minimal support from the region.
He further noted that the prospect of an Igbo president succeeding Mr Tinubu is plausible, citing the manner in which the late Muhammadu Buhari rose to the presidency as an example.
“Let’s get along with Nigeria, last election, Tinubu won without the southeast, he will win again. So why not give him the votes so he can do what we ask of him in return?
“Hopefully, he will hand over power to an Igbo man. He made Buhari, a Hausa man, president; he made himself a Yoruba man president. What makes you think he won’t make an Igbo man president if we clearly support him for one more term? Igbo best stake is on Asiwaju, think it out. Man has the best political structure in the country to win the election, so we don’t waste our votes,” he said.
Backstory
This newspaper reported that in November 2025, he stated that as long as Mr Kanu remained in jail, Mr Tinubu would not secure more than 10,000 votes in the South-East in the 2027 elections.
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However, since his appointment to the CBM, the entrepreneur has reversed his stance, urging Nigerians of Eastern extraction to support the president’s re-election.
The newspaper further reported that the Chief Priest questioned the logic of labelling Igbos who backed Mr Tinubu as “traitors,” noting that there are also Yorubas supporting Peter Obi’s candidacy.
He encouraged his compatriots to rally behind a candidate with a structured platform, enabling them to engage strategically for a better future.
He urged them to join the CBM, a political support group advocating for Mr Tinubu’s re-election.