Charley Boy promises to organise mother of all rallies against general elections next week

SOCIAL critic and  popular musician Charles Oputa popularly known as Charley Boy has promised to lead what he has termed the mother of all rallies next week when he organises a demonstration to protest against Nigeria's recent general elections.

On Saturday February 25, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new president and the Independent National Election Commission (Inec) subsequently declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner. Among the other main gladiators in the contest were Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party and former Kano State governor Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).

Inec chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who served as the returning officer for the presidential election, declared Asiwaju Tinubu the victor of the contest with 8,794,726 votes, defeating Alhaji Abubakar of the PDP, who came second with 6,984,520 votes and Governor Obi who came third with 6,101,533 votes. However, the PDP and Labour Party have refused to accept the results.

With the political temperature very high at the moment, Festus Keyamo, the minister of state for labour and employment and APC presidential campaign spokesman, warned the PDP and Labour Party presidential candidates against taking to the streets while also pursuing their cases in court. He then issued a statement on behalf of Asiwaju Tinubu, noting that those who have taken to the streets protesting against his mandate are fixated on having an interim national government.

Wading into the matter, Charley Boy, also known as Area Father, explained that he could not participate in the protests organised so far for health reasons. While lauding the peaceful nature of the protests, Charley Boy expressed regret for not joining the protesters but promised to lead the mother of all rallies next week, revealing that he is recovering speedily.

Charley Boy tweeted:  “Courageous youths, I appreciate you all for the peaceful way you’ve conducted yourselves in the Abuja ongoing rally so far. But for my medical challenge I would have been with you all.

“However, I am recovering quickly and hopefully by next week I should be joining you all for the mother of all rallies. They will never mess with our mandate, their fathers.”