No End In Sight To NDC, OK Movement Rift Over Campaign Structure

The rift between the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, popularly known as the OK Movement, over campaign structures for the 2027 general elections has deepened.

At the centre of the dispute is the decision by the OK Movement to set up a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council, a move which the NDC national leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, has described as “nonsensical.”

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday while receiving former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, into the NDC, Dickson insisted that support groups exist to complement, not compete with, a political party.

“You have several support groups. Support groups don’t compete with the political party that is sponsoring candidates. Support groups don’t compete for supremacy, for space. Support groups are what they are, support groups.

They don’t play the role of a political party. They don’t sponsor candidates. They provide grassroots support, mobilisation support,” he said.

The former Bayelsa State governor questioned the rationale behind a support group establishing its own presidential campaign council, adding: “None of them will dare say they are setting up a presidential campaign council. It’s unheard of. Nonsensical. And those who have a duty to educate and call people to order should do so.”

The OK Movement, however, rejected the label and Dickson’s position, warning that any attempt by the NDC to absorb its structures would spell disaster for the alliance ahead of 2027.

Its Director-General, John Ughulu, said the movement would maintain its independent identity and would not allow its national, state, local government or ward structures to be subsumed into the NDC.

According to Ughulu, the OK Movement is not a support group created as an appendage of any political party, but an independently organised platform with its own leadership and mobilisation structures that draws members from different political backgrounds united by their support for Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, the NDC’s presidential candidate and running mate.

“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,” Ughulu said.

He added: “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.”

Ughulu also faulted Dickson’s description of the movement’s campaign council as “nonsensical,” arguing that it was not an attempt to usurp the functions of the NDC.

“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 of Peter Obi,” he said.

The rift between the NDC and the OK Movement has been more intense on social media, especially on X, as supporters of Obi and Kwankwaso attacked Dickson over his comments about their group.