Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential aspirant, is too old and too weak to run for president in 2023, says Nollywood veteran actor Pete Edochie.

“Many people like Tinubu are too old and too weak to run for president. He (Tinubu) has been in power for a long time until he was made the leader of the APC,” stated Mr Edochie in an interview with BBC Igbò.

“But he should leave the position for those who are younger and healthier. Let’s be honest,” the actor pointed out in response to a question on Mr Tinubu’s candidacy for the 2023 presidential election. 

In the interview, the Nollywood star highlighted his concerns about the political marginalisation of Igbòs. 

“Igbò, Hausa, and Yorübá are the major ethnic groups in Nigeria. Only once in the history of Nigeria has it emerged that an Igbò person became the head of state in Nigeria,” he lamented. “That was (former military head of state) Aguiyi Ironsi during the military government, and his headship was short-lived. Since then, the North and the Yorübá have been sharing power between themselves; apart from Goodluck Jonathan, who isn’t even Igbò.” 

Mr Edochie described Igbos as resilient, stressing that Nigeria needs their ingenuity and sound leadership.

He further claimed that the solution to Nigeria’s socio-economic and political crises is an Igbo leader.

“Why has power not returned to the Igbò people? Is there a plot by the political elites to sideline the South-East? I’ve lived in the North. I speak Hausa. But it’s long overdue for Nigeria to have a leader of Igbo extraction,” he asserted. 

The Nollywood star added, “The problem in Nigeria is greed. Leadership is dominated by northerners, but, 60 years after independence, we’ve not ended the electricity problem.”

Mr Tinubu has repeatedly asserted being a bona fide candidate for the exalted position, noting that being Nigerian president is not a job that requires physical fitness like bricklaying and grave digging.

“I am the quality that Nigeria is looking for to make this country very great, prosperous and united, not only in Africa but in the world,” Mr Tinubu said when he visited the palace of the Ooni of Ife and Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, in Osun, last February. “If you hear them saying, can I do it? I am not applying for the job of a grave digger; not race running, I am not a horse. I am not applying for bricklaying. I went to school to study accountancy and management. I am applying for a job of the brain; intelligent thinking; it is a job for someone who is ready to do things right.”

He vowed not to “let Nigerians down.” 
“I have the brain and capacity,” Mr Tinubu insisted.