Nightclub owner and socialite Cubana Chief Priest traded fiery barbs online with Isaac Fayose, brother of former Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose, after Fayose accused Igbo figures of abandoning detained separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu while backing President Bola Tinubu.
The row erupted on Monday when Isaac Fayose posted on social media, slamming Igbo supporters of Tinubu for forgetting Kanu, who leads the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and has been held since 2021. “All of you forgot about Nnamdi Kanu in prison, but the Yoruba have been able to help Sunday Igboho, and all his sins are forgiven,” Fayose wrote. “Now he is set to take a royal title in Ile-Ife, while Nnamdi is in Sokoto. Meanwhile, all of you are wearing mandate caps.”
Pascal Okechukwu, known as Cubana Chief Priest, hit back hard on Instagram, defending his pro-Tinubu stance as smart business sense, not betrayal. The entrepreneur, who says he employs more than 1,000 people, mocked Fayose’s logic. “@isaacfayoseoriginal_ guy you no really get sense,” he wrote in pidgin-laced English. “Wetin over 30 governors align to na wetin ordinary business man align to and you dey cry. Power pass power.”
Chief Priest challenged Fayose to a public debate on their wealth sources, boasting his net worth dwarfs Fayose’s despite the latter’s family ties to power. “Your brother was governor for eight years what were you able to achieve for the people you are worried about,” he sneered, claiming his wardrobe alone outvalues Fayose’s fortune. He name-dropped tycoons like Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Allen Onyema, and Femi Otedola as fellow government allies, adding: “My name grows business… that’s why it’s paining you that an asset like me is working for Pres. Tinubu.”
Fayose doubled down, questioning Chief Priest’s riches. “If Nigeria is a lawful country you should be in jail like Hushpuppy,” he posted, referencing US rapper Hushpuppi’s money-laundering conviction. “Pls respect yourself and move on in peace.”
The online spat highlights simmering ethnic tensions in Nigeria’s fractious political scene, with loyalties split between Tinubu’s administration and calls for Kanu’s release.