Count-Me-In: How City Boy Movement Expands Its Ranks in FCT
By: SHAFIHI Abdulrasheed, anipr
Resilient. Formidable. Visionary. Indefatigable. Grassroots-driven. Five words, yet none of them fully captures the spirit of an advocacy group that has made mobilization a religion. But why, one may ask, would a movement already boasting a formidable followers still find it necessary to comb the markets, motor parks and palaces of the Federal Capital Territory in search of new hands? What does City Boy Movement stand to gain from haggling with traders in Kuje, exchanging ideas with commercial drivers in Bwari, or paying courtesy calls on traditional rulers in Kwali and Abaji? Is the Count-Me-In Challenge merely a flex of muscle, or a calculated, well-timed march toward 2027? These are questions worth asking, and by the time the dust settles on this piece, the answers will speak for themselves.
Whatever conclusions one arrives at, it remains an undeniable fact that City Boy Movement stands today as a shining advocacy group, not just in Nigeria, but across Africa. It has positioned itself as a vanguard of the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, an agenda anchored on economic reform, food security, infrastructural renewal and a Nigeria that works for the ordinary man. For a movement built on the conviction that governance must be felt, wins must be communicated in a simple terms and ensures no one is left behind in the journey to build a prosperous Nigeria. That is the philosophy that gave birth to the Count-Me-In Challenge.
Sunday, 23 August 2026, will be remembered as the day the Movement’s journey took a different, more audacious dimension. That was the day the Count-Me-In Challenge was officially launched, a membership mobilization and registration drive designed to register new progressives and spread the Renewed Hope gospel to the nooks and crannies of the Federal Capital Territory. It was not a desk exercise. It was boots on the ground. It meant chit-chats with market women balancing baskets on their heads, engagements with traders counting their wares, conversations with commercial drivers navigating Abuja’s ever-busy roads, and visits to traditional rulers whose blessings still count for much in these parts. Even the ordinary Nigerian strolling the streets that Sunday did not escape the Movement’s warm embrace.
To sharpen the contest and inject some healthy rivalry, the national leadership of the Movement was strategically grouped into three teams: Team C, covering Gwagwalada and Kuje; Team B, covering AMAC and Bwari; and Team M, covering Kwali and Abaji. The target was simple but audacious: the first team to register 10,000 new members within the FCT would claim bragging rights. And with that, the ball started rolling in the early hours of Sunday, each team armed with its own mobilization and engagement strategy.
I witnessed the preparation firsthand at the Movement’s National Headquarters that Sunday morning, and I make bold to say it bore all the hallmarks of a mini-election. The strategy sessions, the visible zeal, the quiet but fierce determination of each team to outdo the other, it was a sight to behold. Nobody wanted to be left holding the short end of the stick.
The registration commenced with blistering speed, and Team C wasted no time setting the pace, throwing down a challenge the other teams had to scramble to match. Markets became battlegrounds of persuasion. Gwagwalada and Kuje teams engaged University of Abuja students, staff quarters, council secretariat residents and local authorities. Teams B and M mirrored this energy in their respective councils. But beyond the sheer business of registering new members, this was, in every sense, a moment of policy advocacy, an opportunity to set the record straight on what the President has achieved, to correct the wrong impressions peddled by naysayers, and to win hearts ahead of 2027.
When the dust finally settled, the numbers told their own story. City Boy Movement recorded 25,594 new members across all teams in a single day. Team M led the pack with 10,196, Team B followed with 7,941, and Team C rounded up with 7,457. Was that not remarkable? And what exactly does this tell us? These are not mere names on a register; they are new faces of believers and admirers of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In a manner of speaking, City Boy Movement had, in one fell swoop, secured 25,594 votes for Tinubu ahead of 2027. Let that sink in.
As at today, 27 August 2026, the cumulative FCT membership figures stand at an impressive 44,803. Team M leads with 22,778, Team C follows with 11,406, and Team B trails closely with 10,603. Anyone who understands the arithmetic of elections will appreciate the weight of these figures. Numbers, after all, do not lie, and in a contest as tightly fought as Nigeria’s electoral landscape often is, every registered voice counts.
While the opposition busies itself with grandstanding on social media, trading hashtags for substance, City Boy Movement remains grounded, mobilizing real votes in real communities for President Tinubu. With all seriousness, we will not ask them to stop; every movement is entitled to its own strategy, however unserious it may seem. We will only extend an invitation to a dinner party, one to be held after Asiwaju has been sworn in for another four years.
At this juncture, it would be remiss of me not to commend the Director General, Hon. Francis Tosin Shoga, Deputy Director Generals, the national directors and every member of the national leadership who brought unalloyed dedication and staunch belief to this assignment, mobilizing new soldiers for the President’s cause. Together, after the election, we shall return to this same ground and rejoice in what we sowed today.
As a proud member of Team C, the ever-relentless team, I reserve special commendation for our leadership. Hon. Adim Bobo Akpanunam, DDG Policy, Research and Strategy, does not only stand at the helm of Team C; he also ensures the seamless operation of the Movement’s website under his directorate, a young, accessible and charismatic leader in every sense. Hon. Abdullahi Yakasai, DDG Internal Governance and Engagement, brought a steady hand to the team’s coordination. Hon. Kehinde Edebiri, National Director, Administration, did not just support the team from behind; she made herself available all through, a fine leader by any measure. And Hon. Daniel Ogoloma, National Director, Public Affairs, held the team’s public narrative together with quiet competence. To you all, a very big kudos. You have earned every bit of my respect.
In the end, the Count-Me-In Challenge was never just about numbers. It was a statement, loud and unmistakable, that City Boy Movement does not only talk politics; it works politics. And if the FCT outing is anything to go by, the road to 2027 already has City Boy Movement’s footprints all over it.
Shafihi Abdulrasheed is a PR Practitioner and Perception Manager. He writes from the City Boy Movement National Headquarters and can be reached via sharvee2@gmail.com | +2348109941929
