2027: We Will Not Surrender Our Structure to NDC — OK Movement

The Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, popularly known as the OK Movement, has rejected calls for its organisational structures to operate under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), insisting that it will retain its independent identity ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The movement's Director-General, John Ughulu, made the position known on Wednesday, September 23, while responding to comments by NDC National Leader Senator Seriake Dickson on the role of support groups in the party's campaign.

Dickson had argued that support groups should complement political parties rather than compete with them or establish parallel structures.

He made the comments in Abuja while receiving former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, into the NDC. Dickson also criticised the OK Movement's decision to establish a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council, describing the move as “nonsensical” and outside the conventional role of a support group.

The controversy followed the OK Movement's unveiling of the 59-member campaign council on September 17. The structure includes coordinators across the geopolitical zones and states, as well as officials responsible for mobilisation, women affairs, strategy, security, legal affairs and other areas.

The NDC subsequently dissociated itself from the council, saying its formation was not authorised by the party. The party's National Chairman, Cleopas Moses, urged the public and media to disregard the announcement.

Responding to Dickson, Ughulu argued that the OK Movement should not be treated as an ordinary support group created as an extension of a political party.

He said the movement was independently organised and had its own leadership and structures at the national, state, local government and ward levels.

According to Ughulu, the movement brings together people from different political backgrounds who support Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, the NDC's presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

He rejected Dickson's description of the movement's campaign council as “nonsensical”, arguing that political mobilisation had evolved beyond traditional party structures.

Ughulu said the OK Movement's support for the NDC candidates did not mean that its organisational structures had become part of the party.

“The OK Movement will not be collapsed, merged or subsumed into the NDC or any other organisation. Cooperation and political alignment do not extinguish the independent identity of the Movement,” he said.

He maintained that the movement would continue to mobilise support for Obi and Kwankwaso while retaining responsibility for its own organisational affairs.

“Our organisational structure remains the property and responsibility of the OK Movement,” Ughulu said, adding that the movement would not surrender its national, state, local government or ward structures to any political party or external organisation.

He also argued that the movement was not seeking to exercise authority over the NDC or interfere with the party's internal affairs.

Ughulu said the OK Movement recognised the NDC's constitutional authority over its own internal operations, but maintained that the party should similarly respect the movement's claimed organisational independence.

He warned that the movement would resist, through what he described as lawful and democratic means, any attempt to appropriate its structures or redefine its identity without the approval of its own organs.

The disagreement between the NDC and the OK Movement remains centred on the status of the movement's campaign structure and the extent to which an organisation supporting the party's candidates can maintain separate mobilisation and campaign structures.