Pete Edochie, a veteran Nollywood actor, has endorsed, Yul, his son, for Nigeria’s 2023 presidential race.
Yul broke the news in a video shared on his social media pages on Thursday.
“My Father Chief Pete Edochie endorses my 2023 Presidential ambition … God Almighty, take absolute control,” he captioned the post.
In the less than 3-minute footage, Pete disclosed that the endorsement follows ceaseless pleas from young people asking him to openly back his son’s bid for the country’s highest political office.
The veteran actor also expressed confidence that his son posses the right values and drive to steer the country forward.
He said while he is not interested in politics, he would not hold back his support for Yul who has decided to delve into it.
“My values are very strong. I have my own children and they are very strong in that regard too. I am not one to be involved in politics. But you see, not all your children are bound to follow you,” he said.
“One of my sons, who incidentally is an actor, has decided that he wants to be a politician. Most of the youngsters have been bugging my phone asking me to endorse my son that they want him as president and l get amused. But they keep insisting daddy, we want Yul to be the president of this country.
“We like him. He is disciplined, sympathetic, he believes a lot in people. They have bothered me so much that today, I’m hereby present him to you. He has my blessing. He has my endorsement.
“Any day he decides to veer off from the discipline under which he was raised, I will withdraw him from the race. It shall be well with your son. Since it has been your ambition to go into politics and the desire to run for the presidency of this country, may the good Lord assist you, protect and direct you.”
In 2018, the actor turned politician had declared interest to run for the office of the presidency in the 2019 election under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) party.
He later abandoned the ambition — a decision which according to him was arrived at “after due consultation.”
Prior to his presidential bid, he had contested for the Anambra state governorship election in 2017 under the flag of the Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC) but lost after securing only 145 votes.
Yul was appointed the senior special assistant on creative and entertainment media to Willie Obiano, the governor of Anambra state, in 2018.
The actor, however, resigned a few months later and defected from APGA to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stating that his decision was in a bid to support the presidential ambition of Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, who was the candidate of the party.
Earlier this year, Yul once again declared his interest to run for Nigeria’s highest office in 2023.
