2027: NDC Rift Lingers As OK Movement Refuses To Collapse Parallel Campaign Structure

The rift between the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, popularly known as the OK Movement, has deepened ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the movement insisting that it will neither collapse nor surrender its organisational structures to the party.

Director-General of the OK Movement, John Ughulu, said on Wednesday that the movement would retain its national, state, local government and ward structures despite its political cooperation with the NDC.

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

He spoke on Tuesday in Abuja at the unveiling of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.

The former Bayelsa governor said multiple support groups were normal during political campaigns but maintained that such groups should operate in a manner that complements, rather than competes with, the political party sponsoring their candidates.

Dickson also criticised the OK Movement’s decision to establish a presidential campaign council, describing the move as “unheard of” and “nonsensical.”

He said the NDC would continue to work with support groups but expected them to operate within what he described as their proper role.

However, Ughulu said the OK Movement should not be treated as an ordinary support group, arguing that it was an independently organised political movement.

“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,” Ughulu said.

He said the description of the Obidient Movement and Kwankwasiyya as support movements made it necessary to clarify the identity and status of 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,” he said.

Ughulu also rejected Dickson’s description of the movement’s decision to establish a campaign council as “nonsensical.”

According to him, the movement consists of individuals and members of different political parties who share a common political commitment to 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,” he said.

Ughulu maintained that the movement would continue mobilising support for Obi and Kwankwaso while retaining its organisational independence and internal administration.

“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.

He further stated that the movement would not surrender its established structures to any political party or external organisation.

“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,” Ughulu said.

The OK Movement DG also argued that the movement was entitled to establish campaign and mobilisation structures in support of the NDC’s candidates, saying he was not aware of any provision of the party’s constitution expressly prohibiting such an arrangement.

He, however, stressed that the movement was not seeking to usurp the authority of the NDC.

“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,” he said.

Ughulu warned against any attempt to take over or redefine the movement’s structures without the authorisation of its legitimate organs.

He said the movement would resist such attempts through what he described as lawful and democratic means.

“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 said.

The latest disagreement follows the NDC’s decision to dissociate itself from a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council announced by the OK Movement to mobilise support for Obi and Kwankwaso ahead of the 2027 general elections.

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 a separate response, the OK Movement’s National Secretary, Saadatu Sani, demanded an apology from Cleopas, maintaining that the movement was an independent political organisation with its own leadership, structures and internal processes.

The exchanges have brought the question of the relationship between the NDC and allied political movements into sharper focus as preparations for the 2027 elections continue.