The City Boy Movement, a group linked to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has dismissed online accusations of elitism and state sponsorship, portraying itself as a broad-based grassroots network.
In a statement released on Saturday via its official X account, the movement’s national secretariat responded to a viral video that it said distorted its origins and aims.
Founded in 2022, it described itself as “a grassroots civic and political support platform built on voluntary participation, democratic engagement, and national development”.
The group insisted that it was never a government creation as its embership its spans Nigeria’s social fabric.
“We are not defined by class, status, or wealth,” the statement declared.
“Our supporters reflect the full spectrum of Nigeria—traders, artisans, students, farmers, professionals, entrepreneurs, and successful business leaders alike.”
The group pushed back against claims that wealth equates to detachment from public duty.
“Prosperity does not invalidate patriotism, and success should not be mischaracterised as exclusion,” it said.
“Civic participation is a right that belongs to every Nigerian, regardless of economic standing.”
It also clarified the term “City Boy”—popularly tied to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu—as embodying “resilience, bold thinking, courage, and transformative leadership”, rather than class privilege.
The phrase, within the movement, signals “a mindset committed to progress, not a social category or class distinction”.
Reiterating its goals, the group vowed to promote youth involvement in democracy and national unity.
“Our vision is clear: to mobilise citizens, particularly young Nigerians, toward constructive democratic engagement, enterprise, and national cohesion,” it stated.
It decried divisive online narratives, pledging focus on “issue-based dialogue, support [for] reform-driven leadership, and foster[ing] unity across communities”.
The movement also reaffirmed its dedication to “unity, enterprise, responsible democratic participation, and national development… substance over spectacle, and nation-building over narrative manipulation”.
