The widening political feud between influential Igbo businessmen and their critics has taken another explosive turn—this time zeroing in on what many are calling the ultimate contradiction: relocating one's family to the United Kingdom while campaigning vigorously for a Nigerian president seeking re-election.
A viral social media post, penned by a user whose commentary has resonated across multiple platforms, has laid bare a charge that refuses to fade: that Obi Cubana and Cubana Chief Priest are "gaslighting" Nigerians by promoting President Bola Tinubu's 2027 re-election bid while their own families reside permanently outside the country.
'To Him, Nigeria Is Irredeemable and a Carcass'
The post directly accuses Obi Cubana of having made a decisive personal judgment about Nigeria's future—and acting on it decisively.
"Obi Cubana relocated his family to the UK three years ago," the author writes. "To him, Nigeria is irredeemable and a carcass; this is why he uprooted his family and sent them away to the UK. He makes money here and repatriates it to his family living in a sane country."
The accusation is not new. It originates from a February 11 Facebook post by Lagos-based lawyer Chukwudi Iwuchukwu, who first alleged that the nightlife mogul had concluded Nigeria offers no viable future for his loved ones . Iwuchukwu's statement has since become the foundational text for a mounting wave of criticism targeting both Cubana and his associate, Cubana Chief Priest.
The viral post draws a direct line between this alleged personal calculus and the businessmen's high-profile alignment with the City Boy Movement—a pro-Tinubu campaign platform to which both men have donated luxury buses and lent their considerable social capital .
"The same applies to Cubana Chief Priest," the author continues. "These selfish elites shout 'city boy' while gaslighting Nigerians into believing a failed government deserves another chance."
'The Children of the Poor Can Enjoy a Failed Government'
The post's most cutting passage contrasts the fate of the businessmen's children with those of ordinary Nigerians—a contrast the author frames as damning evidence of elite detachment.
"The children of the poor, who cannot afford to relocate, can enjoy a failed government while their families are suited for a government that works abroad."
This formulation has struck a nerve across social media. It reframes the "City Boy" slogan—originally intended as a celebratory marker of youthful, urbane political engagement—as a cruel joke, a slogan chanted by men whose own children will never have to navigate the consequences of the policies they champion.
'A 51-Year-Old Man Reduced to a Boy'
The author then pivots to Cubana Chief Priest, whose self-designation as a "city boy" at age 51 has become a recurring target of mockery.
"Meanwhile, this is the first time in my life I've seen a 51-year-old man reduce himself to a boy because of political patronage."
The reference is to Chief Priest's enthusiastic embrace of the City Boy Movement's nomenclature, a branding choice his critics argue reflects not youthful energy but transactional desperation. Isaac Fayose, the social commentator and brother of former Ekiti Governor Ayo Fayose, has been particularly relentless on this point, repeatedly questioning the source of Chief Priest's wealth and accusing him of abandoning the cause of detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu for political patronage .
'Your Wallet Can Never Patronize Them'
Crucially, the viral post does not call for government action or legal sanctions. Instead, it advocates a form of consumer citizenship—a deliberate, collective withdrawal of economic support from the targeted businessmen.
"It is Obi Cubana and his friends' inalienable right to support whoever they want, even if that person is a devil. It is also your right as a young person living in Nigeria to boycott their businesses and stop buying anything they are selling."
The author concludes with an unambiguous call to economic arms:
"Your wallet can never and should not patronize anything associated with them because they are after your life. This is how you hold a grudge—by voting with your wallet."
This echoes Iwuchukwu's original exhortation that young Nigerians should respond to elite political realignments not with petitions or protests, but with the quiet, cumulative power of consumer refusal .
The Businessmen's Defense
Neither Obi Cubana nor Cubana Chief Priest has directly responded to the specific allegation regarding their families' residency status. However, both have defended their political choices in separate forums.
Obi Cubana, speaking at the official presentation of the City Boy Movement guidelines in Abuja, described his political involvement as a commitment to "clean, issue-driven engagements" and urged supporters to respond to criticism with "education and enlightenment rather than insults" .
"I keep my page clean because I can't go down to where negativity is coming from. Anywhere they want to go low, we go higher," he said .
Cubana Chief Priest has been more combative. In his exchange with Isaac Fayose, he declared: "I have chosen my path—business and politics," and argued that his role as an employer of over 1,000 Nigerians compels him to align with the government rather than oppose it .
"As for me and my family, we have decided to stay with the moving train, Renewed Hope," he stated .
The Unanswered Question
Neither businessman has publicly addressed the central charge: that they have made irrevocable personal decisions to secure their families' futures outside Nigeria while campaigning vigorously for a second term for the administration they insist deserves another chance.
For their critics, this silence is itself an admission.
The viral post, which continues to circulate across Facebook, X, and WhatsApp, has crystallized a growing sentiment among a segment of the Nigerian public: that the distance between elite endorsement and elite experience has become unbridgeable.
In this telling, the "City Boy" is not a young man building a new Nigeria. He is a 51-year-old man whose children breathe British air while he urges other people's children to be patient with a failing grid, a falling currency, and a future he has already opted out of.
Whether this translates into measurable consumer boycotts—or whether, as the author urges, Nigerians begin to "vote with their wallet"—remains to be seen.
What is clear is that the question has been posed, and it is not retreating.
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