The Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, popularly known as the OK Movement, on Wednesday, vowed not to collapse or surrender its structure to the Nigeria Democratic Congress ahead of the 2027 election.
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The Director-General of the OK Movement, John Ughulu, said the movement would not allow the NDC or any other organisation to absorb its national, state, local government, and ward structures.
Ughulu was reacting to comments by the NDC National Leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, on the role of support groups in the party’s 2027 campaign.
Dickson had argued that political groups should complement the political party rather than compete with it or operate as parallel structures.
The senator spoke at the unveiling of former Secretary General to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, in Abuja on Tuesday.
The former Bayelsa governor said multiple support groups are normal in political campaigns, stressing that such groups should complement, not compete with, the political party sponsoring their candidates.
Dickson also described the OK Movement’s decision to establish a presidential campaign council as “unheard of” and “nonsensical”, while stressing that the NDC would continue to work with support groups but expected them to operate within their proper role.
However, Ughulu argued that the movement was different from conventional support groups, insisting that it was an independent political organisation.
He said, “I strongly agree with the position expressed by Senator Seriake Dickson. However, there appears to be a missing link in the argument currently being advanced.
“If the Obidient Movement is regarded as a support movement, and if the Obidients and Kwankwasiyya have equally been described by Idris Zekeri, while claiming to speak on behalf of Peter Obi, as a support movement, then it becomes necessary to properly define the identity and status of the Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, popularly known as the OK Movement.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, 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.”
Continuing, Ughulu also rejected Dickson’s description of the movement’s decision to establish a campaign council as “nonsensical”.
According to him, the movement comprises members of different political parties who support the NDC presidential candidates, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
“So it is not nonsensical as claimed by Seriake Dickson; rather, the national leader of the NDC Party should come to realise that politics has long evolved from the conventional political system he is used to.
“The OK Movement comprises individuals and members from different political parties who share a common commitment to the ideals, values and political aspirations represented by the presidential candidate, Peter Obi and his running mate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso,” he stated.
He said the movement would continue to mobilise support for the candidates while retaining its organisational independence.
The DG also vowed that the movement would retain its independence and internal administration, stressing that its political cooperation with the NDC did not amount to organisational subordination.
“The OK Movement remains an independent organisation. Its existence and internal administration are not subject to the internal management of the NDC.
“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.
“Our organisational structure remains the property and responsibility of the OK Movement. We will not surrender our established national, state, local government and ward structures to any political party or external support group for management,” he said.
He further argued that the movement had the right to establish its own campaign and mobilisation structures in support of the NDC’s candidates, saying it was not aware of any provision of the party’s constitution expressly prohibiting such an arrangement.
Ughulu stressed that the movement was not seeking to usurp the authority of the NDC.
He further warned against any attempt to take over the movement’s structures.
“Let us also make one important distinction absolutely clear. The OK Movement does not claim supremacy over the NDC Party, nor does it seek to usurp the constitutional powers of the party.
“We respect the NDC and recognise the constitutional authority of the party over its own internal affairs. Equally, the NDC and every other organisation must recognise the independent identity, structure and legitimate interests of the OK Movement.
“However, we will resist, through lawful and democratic means, any attempt by any individual or group to disenfranchise members of the movement, appropriate its structures, or unilaterally redefine its identity. We did not build the OK Movement overnight.
“Therefore, no individual can simply declare that structure dissolved, transferred or absorbed without the authority of the Movement’s legitimate organs. We will not be intimidated, surrender our identity or abandon the structures we have built,” he warned.
The latest disagreement stemmed from the party’s decision to dissociate itself from a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council constituted by the OK Movement to mobilise support for Obi and Kwankwaso ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, had said the party did not authorise the movement to constitute or announce a campaign council in its name.
The party also warned that no individual, candidate or support group could establish a campaign structure on behalf of the NDC without approval from its National Working Committee.
In response, the OK Movement’s National Secretary, Saadatu Sani, demanded an apology from Cleopas, insisting that the movement was an independent political organisation with its own leadership, structure and internal processes.
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