The City Boy Movement (CBM) has inaugurated its Ekiti State executive council, with the Director-General of the movement, Francis Oluwatosin Shoga, saying the organisation is working to mobilise 10 million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Shoga made the declaration on Friday in Ado-Ekiti during the inauguration of the Ekiti State executives of the movement.
He said the 10 million membership target was achievable through sustained grassroots mobilisation and active participation of young Nigerians across the country.
According to him, the movement is building a network of active Nigerian youths across the 36 states of the federation, adding that a membership base of 10 million active members with Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) could translate into 10 million votes for Tinubu in the 2027 election.
Shoga said the target was not merely a political slogan, as structures were already being established across the country, including Ekiti State.
‘The 10 million membership is not bogus. We are building a network of Nigerian youth that, if the City Boy Movement can have 10 million active members, means it is possible for us to deliver 10 million votes to support the President come 2027,’ Shoga said.
He explained that the movement had embarked on engagements across the 36 states, with Ekiti being one of the states where it was consolidating its grassroots structure and reaching out to young Nigerians.
Shoga urged Nigerian youths to abandon political apathy and become active participants in the political process, saying the future of the country could not be shaped by those who remained on the sidelines.
‘We are telling young Nigerians that as long as you are on the sideline and you are not involved, there is no way the youth of Nigeria can move forward. Be active participants and decide your future; decide the future that will take young Nigerians to a better place,’ he said.
The CBM Director-General also urged youths to leverage what he described as opportunities provided by the Tinubu administration for greater youth participation in governance.
Speaking, the state director of the movement, Oluwafemi Kasali, said the organisation had deliberately built its structure beyond existing party lines, targeting undecided voters, newly eligible voters and those who had previously shown little interest in elections.
He said the organisation had established structures across the 16 local government areas and 177 wards of the state, with coordinators and volunteers also deployed across the state’s 2,445 polling units.
According to him, the movement’s strategy was to engage groups often overlooked during elections, including professionals, bankers, university lecturers, civil servants, artisans, students and other members of the communities.
Kasali said the objective was to encourage the groups to participate actively in the electoral process and vote for President Bola Tinubu.
He said: ‘If I am canvassing APC members, it is like preaching Jesus to a pastor or Muhammad to an Imam. Our target from day one has been the undecided voters, those who were not 18 during the last election but have now attained voting age and registered, as well as those who are lukewarm and usually do not come out to vote.
‘We are talking about the big men and women in society, bankers, lecturers in the universities and civil servants. These are people who hardly come out on election day. What we have been able to do is to reach out to many of them and bring them into our fold so that they can come out and vote for President Bola Tinubu in 2027.’
The state director said the next phase of the movement’s activities would focus on an aggressive membership registration and mobilisation drive, with a target of registering at least 200,000 members in Ekiti by October 31.
He added that the movement was also targeting 1,000 members in each of the 177 wards, expressing confidence that the target was achievable based on the organisation’s previous mobilisation efforts.
Kasali commended members of the movement, including state and local government coordinators, ward leaders, polling-unit teams, volunteers and grassroots members, for their commitment and sacrifices.
He said their collective efforts had contributed to the growth of the organisation in the state.
He also appreciated the patron of the group, Seyi Tinubu, Director-General of the City Boy Movement, Oluwatosin Shoga, and other national leaders for their support for the activities of the movement across the country.
Kasali particularly commended Governor Biodun Oyebanji for his support for the movement and youth development in the state, recalling that Ekiti was among the first states where the movement received a warm reception from a sitting governor.
‘Inauguration comes with responsibility. The offices being assumed today are not merely positions or titles; they are responsibilities and trust entrusted to individuals to serve, organise, listen and contribute to the growth of the movement,’ Kasali said.
The event was attended by dignitaries including Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students Engagement, Sunday Asefon; SSA on Community Engagement (South West), Moremi Ojudu; Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Adeoye Aribasoye; Commissioner for Information in the state, Taiwo Olatunbosun; and State party chairman, Sola Elesin, among others.