‘Tinubu Doesn’t Trust Me As An Igbo Man’ — Cubana Chief Priest
Pascal Chibuike Okechukwu, the socialite and nightlife entrepreneur widely known as Cubana Chief Priest, has made a candid public admission that President Bola Tinubu does not fully trust him, citing both his Igbo ethnic identity and his well-documented support for Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi during the 2023 general elections as reasons for the lingering suspicion.
Okechukwu made the disclosure during a livestream session with popular Nigerian content creator and streamer Peller, in a video that circulated widely on Wednesday and has since ignited fresh debate about political loyalty, ethnic calculations, and the transactional nature of Nigerian party politics ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Let me tell you, as I am now, Tinubu doesn’t really trust me as an Igbo man. He looks at me with one eye. He is still like, ‘this one that has worked for Peter Obi before,'” Okechukwu said during the session.
The remarks carry considerable weight given the political trajectory he has charted since 2023. Okechukwu was among the most prominent celebrity voices behind Obi and the Labour Party during the 2023 presidential race, before later announcing his defection from Obi’s camp and pledging allegiance to President Tinubu. He now serves as the Imo State Director of the City Boy Movement, a youth-driven support group established in 2022 to mobilise backing for President Tinubu.
When pressed to explain his political switch, Okechukwu was unapologetic and blunt. “Because I don’t want to lose again because they say first fool no be fool, na the second fool be proper fool,” he said, adding that Peter Obi remained “not serious” and that “the serious people will win” in 2027.
In earlier public statements, Okechukwu had framed his decision to remain with the APC despite dominant opposition sentiments in parts of the South East as a deliberate strategy, arguing that operating from outside government weakens one’s capacity to effect change at the highest level. He had also previously declared on Instagram that he planned to actively work against Obi in 2027, confirming the position when directly asked by a follower, saying: “Yes ooo hope say no be crime cuz i worked for Obi last election even as special adviser to an APC governor.”
His ambition to translate political loyalty into electoral capital, however, suffered an early and embarrassing setback. Okechukwu obtained the APC expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the Orsu/Orlu/Oru East Federal Constituency seat in Imo State, only to lose the ticket to incumbent lawmaker Canice Nwachukwu during the party primary conducted using the Option A4 voting system. He later told followers he never fully contested in the first place.
The defeat sparked widespread reactions on social media, with many users alleging that Seyi Tinubu and others he trusted had betrayed him, while others argued that Okechukwu failed to properly understand the political structure within his community before allegedly distributing money to party delegates. Following the outcome, Seyi Tinubu shared a message of encouragement on Instagram, urging him not to be discouraged because setbacks could lead to greater success.
The episode has reignited broader questions about the fate of celebrity political converts in Nigeria’s APC, particularly those from the South East who broke ranks with the Obidient movement to align with the ruling party. For Okechukwu, a man who once boasted of mobilising grassroots support for Tinubu across the region, the primary loss and the admission of presidential distrust paint a complicated picture of rewards and risks in Nigerian political realignment.
The Presidency has not publicly responded to Okechukwu’s remarks.