Group Targets One Million New Voters for Obi/Kwankwaso

A coalition of registered voters in the South-East has launched a new grassroots mobilisation platform known as the “Village Boys Movement” (VBM), with plans to register and mobilise one million new voters in support of a proposed Peter Obi/Rabiu Kwankwaso presidential ticket ahead of the 2027 general election.

The National Chairman of the coalition and South-East Village Boys for Obi/Kwankwaso (OK), Chief Maxi Ukwu, announced the initiative on Thursday during a stakeholders’ meeting in Enugu.

Ukwu, a former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), said the movement was designed as a non-partisan grassroots platform focused on political mobilisation in rural communities across the South-East.

“We are a coalition of registered voters supporting the presidency of Peter Gregory Obi.

“We are not a political party, but a support movement open to everybody regardless of party affiliation or gender,” he said.

According to him, the movement’s immediate focus is to increase voter participation in rural communities by driving large-scale sensitisation and voter registration campaigns ahead of the Jan. 13, 2027 presidential election.

“The strategy is mobilisation at the grassroots; that is why we call it ‘Village Boys’.

“We want to ensure that people in the villages participate actively in the electoral process,” Ukwu stated.

He added that the coalition also intended to strengthen electoral vigilance during future elections to ensure the protection of votes.

“We believe Peter Obi won the last election; this time, we want to ensure that every vote counts and is protected,” he said.

Also speaking, the Secretary-General of the movement, Rev. Christopher Obioha, said the initiative was created to complement existing political support structures backing Obi and Kwankwaso ahead of the 2027 elections.

Obioha explained that the movement became necessary because of growing political apathy among eligible voters in many rural communities across the region.

According to him, the group would concentrate on voter registration, polling unit coordination, grassroots mobilisation and election monitoring across communities within and outside the South-East.

“We want to ensure that every polling unit has committed individuals who will mobilise voters and also safeguard the electoral process against vote manipulation and violence,” he stated.

Obioha, who is also the Leader of Njiko Igbo Forum Nigeria, noted that although the movement originated in the South-East, it had already begun attracting supporters from other parts of Nigeria and the diaspora.

“Within one week of opening our platform, more than 570 people from different parts of Nigeria and abroad joined the movement.

“We have people joining from Germany, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Lagos, Kaduna and other locations,” he said.

He added that the movement was not intended to replace existing political support groups but to strengthen grassroots engagement beyond online campaigns.

“The idea is to move beyond social media mobilisation and establish physical grassroots structures capable of sustaining political participation at the community level,” Obioha added.