Yinka Quadri reveals why he is backing Tinubu for 2027, says he paid $25,000 to bring Moji Olaiya’s body home

Veteran Yoruba actor Yinka Quadri has explained why he is backing President Bola Tinubu's bid for a second term, saying the president's record of helping entertainers goes back to his days as governor of Lagos State.

Quadri spoke on the African A-List programme in an interview posted at the weekend. He said people misunderstand why actors support the president, and that it is not about personal gain. "It is not about what we want to eat," he said.

To make his case, he recalled two moments. The first was the illness of the late comic actor Babatunde Omidina, known as Baba Suwe. Quadri said Tinubu paid his hospital bills while he was sick.

Nollywood veteran actor Babatunde Omidina popularly known as Baba Suwe

The second was the death of actress Moji Olaiya in Canada in 2017. Quadri said he, Fathia Balogun, Yomi Fabiyi and other colleagues were trying to raise money to bring her body back to Nigeria when they went to Tinubu's home in Bourdillon, Lagos. According to him, Tinubu asked what it would cost and paid the full amount, which he put at $25,000.

He added that the help has not stopped, and that Tinubu still gives when practitioners approach him.

Quadri also gave policy reasons. He pointed to the Papalanto-Sagamu road and the Sagamu-Ijebu Ode route in the South-West, as well as pension payments to retirees and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. He admitted the work is not enough but said he still gives the president credit. "I know it is not enough, but I praise him," he said.

Moji Olaiya

He uses these instances as examples of the President’s support for the Nollywood industry in recent years.

Tinubu is the APC's presidential candidate for the 2027 election, which INEC has fixed for January 16, 2027. He won the party's primary in May. The head of the APC's presidential campaign council has said he will open his campaign in Kaduna on October 24.

Quadri's support is not new. In June 2022, he joined other Yoruba actors, including Jide Kosoko, Fausat Balogun, Taiwo Hassan and Femi Adebayo, in a video declaring support for Tinubu's presidential ambition. At the time, he wrote that he was not backing Tinubu because he had been paid.