"I have been having discussions with my colleagues in the past 24 hours and I can tell you that they genuinely love President Jonathan because he was like a father; he was more than a President to us. He was a very personable fellow to the entertainment industry and has influenced people’s decisions to go into the political sphere.On his reaction when he learnt that Gen. Buhari had won the presidential election:
As you know, I took an open stand and I still stand by that conviction of voting President Goodluck Jonathan. I voted him from my personal belief in what he has done for my industry and for his developmental programmes for the nation. I think that, despite his loss, my vote was indicated by his very commensurate statesmanship by conceding defeat for the first time in Nigeria’s history.
I have openly on my website congratulated Gen. Buhari on his victory, but I also understand that in areas of politics where we have been able to engage one another as citizens, we are allowed the right to our ideologies. So, my stand is still my stand. President Jonathan is still my hero and it would take some time for us to watch and see the programmes that Gen. Buhari has for the country and, especially, for my constituency, the entertainment industry.
On entertainers being paid for campaigning for politicians:
That question is quite amorphous and I have always laughed at that question because those questions are based on perception. In the course of the political campaigning, a lot of accusations and bric-a-brac were going on between supporters of both parties. The APC supporters said anytime they saw the Nollywood entertainers on stage with President Jonathan, they had been compromised. I think that was erroneous.
There are two ways to look at it: Entertainers are also Nigerians. They have a right to take a stand. I took that position a few months ago. I said, ‘Come out openly as an industry or as a person within the entertainment industry and take a stand. Stand by that conviction and do not be crucified for that stand. Don’t let anybody move you away from that stand so that you can say, ‘I stood by this stand when it mattered most and I voted President Jonathan or Gen. Buhari.’
The country should be ripe enough to appreciate that stand, rather than saying there were monetary gains or influences. I think it was a genuine affection and belief in President Jonathan. The other way to look at it is that entertainers have a vocation. We saw things or two aspects of the presidential candidate. On the APC side, we saw Mavin Records artists, Olamide and others playing for the current President-elect, but I did not hear anybody say they were influenced or paid. But when they came to people playing for Jonathan, they said those ones were paid. The people must understand what it is to have a vocation and a political conviction.
Read the full interview here
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