The protest staged at the headquarters of the City Boy Movement ( CBM) in Umuahia Abia state capital on Friday by youths and alleged supporters of the Movement was to demand what they considered as injustice within the organisation, says suspended Organizing Secretary.

A six months suspension was imposed on the state Organizing Secretary, Dr Charles Ukeagu who told journalists that the protesters who carried placards during the peaceful protest did so in the exercise of their rights as allowed by the law.

It was gathered that the youths cited the suspension of Dr Ukeagu as the state CBM Organizing Secretary as part of the injustice that they want to be redressed in the state CBM.

The CBM was reportedly founded/ established by President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi Tinubu, as a campaign platform for the re-election bid of his father, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) for the 2027 election.

Speaking of the protest, Ukeagu told Journalists that he was aware that some members had expressed their intention to protest over what they described as injustice in the leadership of the state CBM, in the exercise of their constitutional rights peacefully. ” Some of them told me they wanted to protest in regard to this whole injustice going on, and I told them that peaceful protest was allowed”

Reportedly, the Student Coordinator of the CBM Youth Wing in Abia State,
Comrade Emeka Kenneth Uche described the allegedly suspended Ukeagu as one of the strong pillars responsible for building the movement across the Southeast, and had contributed significantly to the growth of the City Boy Movement through administrative support, sponsorship of meetings and grassroots mobilisation across the state.

Uche, while addressing the protesters, said that the group was not protesting to fight anyone but to appeal to the leadership of the movement to reconsider Ukeagu’s suspension and amicably resolve whatever differences that led to the decision.

“We are here to say no to the suspension of our capacity leader, Charles Ukeagu. He has contributed a lot to see that this movement called City Boy Movement in Abia State grows stronger”

The protesters also appealed to the State Director of the City Boy Movement, Chief Mayor Igbokwe, to demonstrate true leadership by engaging Ukeagu and other stakeholders in dialogue rather than allowing the disagreement to deepen.

They also urged Seyi Tinubu, whom they described as the capacity leader of the City Boy Movement in Nigeria, to intervene and help resolve the state crisis.

Comrade Uche, who stated that allowing Ukeagu’s suspension to stand would create division within the movement, warned that other coordinators and capacity leaders working under Ukeagu could withdraw from the structure.

According to him, CBM needs strong and capable hands like Ukeagu ahead of the 2027 general elections, because of the political strength of the Labour Party in Abia State.

” We are not here to fight. We have the right as Nigerian citizens to protest peacefully and express our grievances. We respect our leaders, but whatever issue exists should be settled amicably,” he said.

He appealed to Chief Mayor Igbokwe to “shed his sword” and resolve the disagreement, stressing that all the parties involved remained brothers and members of the same political movement.

Speaking to journalists Ukeagu recalled having previously called for the needful to be done to address rumours making the rounds, including the disagreements capable of disuniting the organisation.

He also said he had warned the State Director against deleting messages from the City Boy Communication platforms, and warned that such actions could further divide the members.

Alleging that despite his warnings, the state Director subsequently created another platform, Ukeagu reported that doing so, brought in some local Government Area Coordinators and Executives to the exclusion of other members.

Even as he queried the suspension of members at a time the CBM should focus on membership expansion and mobilising support for president Tinubu’s re-election, Ukeagu argued that it would not be sensible to be removing people without justification.

Ukeagu who said that he recently received a six-month suspension letter, because of the role he claimed to have played in building the organisation’s administrative structure and mobilising members, described the suspension as counterproductive,

Ukeagu further informed that his suspension may be connected to his willingness to question decisions he considered inappropriate, particularly regarding transparency and accountability.

According to him, “removing active members could ultimately reduce the number of people available to support both the CBM and President Tinubu’s re-election campaign.

Stating that the actions against him had led some members to question if the leadership was deliberately weakening the state CBM, Ukeagu however, clarified that he was not directly accusing anyone of working for the opposition, but that some of the actions could create such an impression.

He recalled that efforts had been made severally to resolve the crisis through dialogue, including meetings convened by both the Secretary and Coordinator to bring the patron, Organising Secretary and other principal officers together, with the objective being to settle the disagreements towards repositioning CBM on its primary mandate, ” to re-elect Mr. President in 2027.

Despite the prolonged disagreement, Ukeagu said he remained open to reconciliation and peace.

“I am 100 percent willing for reconciliation even as several attempts had been made to bring the parties together.

He appealed to the leadership and members of City Boy Movement to give peace a chance, stressing that no individual should intimidate another, and that the interests of Abia State and the movement should take precedence over personal differences.

Maintaining that Abia State belongs to all hence nobody can intimidate the other, he faulted the appointment of a Deputy Director who he alleged , hailed from the Director’s constituency, arguing that such action could create the impression that CBM was being concentrated in one constituency, particularly as other principal officers, including himself and the patron, were allegedly hailed from the same area.

Broader consultation, he remarked , should have preceded the appointment including that other constituencies within Abia should have been considered.