By our Reporter
The City Boy Movement on Thursday inaugurated its Ekiti State executive council, held a town hall meeting and street engagement, and unveiled its state secretariat in Ado-Ekiti.
The event, themed “Leaving No One Behind”, was attended by national and state leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), government officials and grassroots coordinators from across the state.
Speaking at the event, the National Director-General of the movement, Hon. Francis Shoga, said the group was building structures nationwide to create opportunities for young Nigerians to participate actively in politics and governance.
Shoga commended the Ekiti State Government for its support, describing members of the movement as participants in an effort to make youths active stakeholders in the political process.
“We are setting up structures everywhere. We must be involved, we must inspire, and that’s how power comes to young people. I charge you to move from structure to action, from meeting to the field. The grassroots is our next frontier,” he said.
He said the movement had set a national target of 10 million genuine members with Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), which it said would translate into 10 million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
“The 10 million membership target is not bogus. We are building a network of Nigerian youth. We have engaged across the 36 states of the federation. As long as you are on the sidelines and not involved, there is no way the youth of Nigeria can move forward,” Shoga said.
The Ekiti State Director-General of the movement, Femi Kasali, said the group, which commenced activities in February, had built a grassroots structure across the 16 local government areas, 177 wards and 2,445 polling units in the state.
Kasali said 177 ward coordinators and 177 women coordinators, totalling 354, attended the inauguration, adding that each of the 2,445 polling units had a coordinator and two canvassers with PVCs.
He said the movement’s strategy was to reach beyond APC members by targeting undecided voters, newly registered voters who turned 18 after the last election and “lukewarm voters”, including bankers, lecturers and civil servants who rarely vote.
Kasali announced a membership drive targeting 200,000 registered members on the national City Boy Movement platform by Oct. 31, 2026, representing at least 1,000 members per ward.
In his remarks, the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye, urged members to mobilise support for President Tinubu and APC candidates, saying elections were won at polling units and not on social media.
The APC Chairman in Ekiti, Barr. Sola Elesin, pledged the party’s cooperation with the movement and charged its members to adopt door-to-door mobilisation.
Elesin reiterated the state’s stated target of delivering 700,000 votes for President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, saying Ekiti also aimed to be the first state to announce its results, as it did in 2023.
Also speaking, the South-West Zonal Director-General of the City Boy Movement, Hon. Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, said grassroots engagement was key to pursuing the 700,000-vote target.
“Everything is grassroots. The best way to get this done is by going door-to-door, knocking on doors and talking to people one-on-one,” Alao-Akala said.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Student Engagement and Director-General of the Students Arm of the City Boy Movement, Sunday Asefon, urged student coordinators to focus on students with PVCs rather than population figures.
Asefon listed NELFUND, monthly student stipends and an uninterrupted academic calendar among the initiatives he said could be highlighted during campus mobilisation, while warning that empowerment would be targeted at those registered on the City Boy platform.
Delivering the keynote address, the Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Biodun Oyebanji on Research, Mr. Femi Owolabi, spoke on “Leaving No One Behind”. He commended Kasali’s efforts in building youth structures across the state and said empowerment began with creating spaces where young people could belong.
The inauguration was attended by representatives of the Deputy Governor and the Governor’s wife, members of the State and National Assemblies, Commissioner for Information, Taiwo Olatunbosun, and Directors of the City Boy Movement from Osun and Ondo states.
