The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has blasted the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai for calling the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi, a Nollywood actor.

AGN Reacts To Nasir El-Rufai’s Comment Describing Peter Obi As Nollywood Actor

El-Rufai had on Thursday during Journalists’ Hangout on TVC, described Obi as a Nollywood actor, who cannot win the 2023 general election.

The governor stated this when he was asked about the polls that predicted Obi’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.

According to him, the former Anambra governor does not have the political footprints to secure two-thirds of the votes needed across the country to win the election slated for February 25.

Reacting to El-Rufai’s comment, the AGN in a strongly-worded statement signed by its Director of Communications, Kate Henshaw, quoted the National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Chief Emeka Rollas as saying the governor’s statement is not only derogatory to the acting profession but degrading to the actors in Nollywood.

According to the AGN statement, El-Rufai’s comment is intended to belittle and demean the intellectual capacity of an actor.

AGN added that using actors to make “sarcastic examples of an unintelligent person is arrogant and condescending of a public office holder.”

“The statement is very offensive and demeaning to the Actors Guild of Nigeria and Nollywood as a whole as it was purely intended to deride the acting profession,” the AGN statement reads.

“Using actors to make sarcastic examples of an unintelligent person is arrogant and condescending of a public office holder. The statement is very offensive and demeaning to the Actors Guild of Nigeria and Nollywood as a whole as it was purely intended to deride the acting profession.

“Nollywood Actors have in no small way projected the image of our dear country positively from the negative perception the likes of El Rufai and his cohorts have portrayed us to be.

“The Guild is utterly bewildered by this kind of statement from a sitting governor who claims to be educated and intelligent, referring to a noble profession of intelligentsia endowed with uncommon talent.

“Chief Rollas lamented that it is quite unfortunate, as it portrays the Governor’s ignorance of the pivotal role of the actor in the emerging global creative economy after many years of his checkered sojourn in government.

“Little wonder Nigeria is battling from serious economic quagmire after many years of clueless leadership who depend solely on the oil industry as they are bereft of ideas to grow and develop the country.”

The statement further added that Chief Rollas asserted that actors are intelligent, educated, creative, and highly endowed with the ingenious capacity to lead and develop Nigeria more than some average leaders in government houses today.

The AGN statement further quoted the national president as calling on El Rufai to withdraw his “nescience statement and tender an unreserved apology to Nollywood Actors immediately.”

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has arrested an official of one of the commercial banks for alleged sabotage.

This was disclosed in a short statement posted on the Twitter handle of the ICPC on Friday.

The ICPC statement said the bank official is the Branch Service Head of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Deidei Branch, Abuja.