The crisis between the Nigeria Democratic Congress and the Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, popularly known as the OK Movement, has deepened, with the movement insisting that it will retain its independent organisational structure ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Director-General of the OK Movement, John Ughulu, said the organisation would not collapse, merge or surrender its national, state, local government and ward structures to the NDC or any other organisation.
His comments followed remarks by the NDC National Leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, that support groups should complement political parties rather than operate as parallel structures.
The latest confrontation followed the NDC’s earlier rejection of the 59-member campaign council announced by the OK Movement.
NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, said the council did not emanate from the party and warned that only the party leadership could constitute and announce an official Presidential Campaign Council.
He also said candidates contesting under the NDC were products of the party and remained subject to its authority and discipline.
The party subsequently referred Mr Ughulu to its disciplinary organ over what it described as his conduct during the Lagos State primary and repeated disregard for party authority.
Dickson questions campaign council
The disagreement centres on a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council unveiled by the OK Movement to mobilise support for the NDC presidential ticket of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Senator Dickson described the movement’s decision to establish a presidential campaign council as “unheard of” and “nonsensical”, arguing that support groups should not compete with or establish structures performing the functions of a political party’s campaign machinery.
He said support groups should focus on grassroots mobilisation and support for candidates rather than seek political supremacy or operate as alternative party structures.
Ughulu defends Movement’s independence
Responding, Mr Ughulu argued that the OK Movement should not be treated as an ordinary support group created as an appendage of a political party.
He said the movement was independently organised and managed through its own structures.
“The OK Movement is not a support group created as an appendage of any political party or another movement. It is independently organised, managed and structured through its own established movement mechanisms.”
Mr Ughulu also rejected Senator Dickson’s description of the campaign council as “nonsensical”.
He explained that the movement comprises people from different political parties who support Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, and therefore maintains an organisational identity separate from the NDC.
Movement rejects merger with NDC
The OK Movement said its political cooperation with the NDC does not amount to organisational subordination.
Mr Ughulu stated: “The OK Movement remains an independent organisation. Its existence and internal administration are not subject to the internal management of the NDC.”
He added that the movement would not be “collapsed, merged or subsumed” into the NDC or any other organisation.
According to him, the movement would retain responsibility for its established national, state, local government and ward structures.
‘We respect NDC authority’
Despite rejecting the party’s attempt to define its organisational role, Mr Ughulu said the movement recognised the NDC’s authority over its own internal affairs.
He said: “The OK Movement does not claim supremacy over the NDC, nor does it seek to usurp the constitutional powers of the party.”
He, however, maintained that the NDC must equally recognise the movement’s independent identity and structures.
He warned that the movement would resist through lawful and democratic means any attempt to take over its structures or redefine its identity without the approval of its legitimate organs.
OK Movement demands apology
The movement’s National Secretary, Ms Saadatu Sani, had earlier demanded an apology from Senator Cleopas over statements she described as defamatory.
She said the movement would continue to campaign for Obi, Kwankwaso and NDC candidates it chose to support, but insisted that such cooperation did not make it a subordinate structure of the party.
Ms Sani also said the movement had developed a nationwide grassroots structure with an internal database representing approximately 2.5 million registered members and coordinators, while stressing that it was not merely a temporary support group for the 2027 election.
59-Member campaign council
The OK Movement unveiled its 59-member campaign council on 17 September, with representatives from the six geopolitical zones, the Federal Capital Territory and all 36 states.
Mr Ughulu was named Director-General, while Ms Sani was listed among the campaign leadership.
The structure also includes directors responsible for grassroots mobilisation, women affairs, contact and engagement, special duties, procurement, information technology, legal affairs, strategy and planning, security and intelligence, and administration.
The dispute highlights an organisational disagreement within the opposition coalition ahead of 2027: whether movements supporting the NDC’s presidential ticket should operate entirely within the party’s campaign structure or maintain separate organisational structures while supporting the party’s candidates.
For the moment, the NDC says support groups should not create parallel party structures, while the OK Movement says its cooperation with the party does not require it to surrender its independent organisation.
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