By Damilola Samuel
The Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, popularly known as the OK Movement, has rejected any move to place its organisational structures under the control of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), insisting that its collaboration with the party does not make it an appendage of the party.
The position was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by the movement’s National Director-General, John Ozyl Ughulu, amid an emerging disagreement over the relationship between the movement and the NDC ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The dispute centres partly on the movement’s decision to establish a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council to mobilise support for the NDC ticket of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso. The NDC has distanced itself from the council, with its National Chairman, Moses Cleopas, maintaining that campaign structures established in the party’s name require approval from the party leadership.
Ughulu, however, maintained that the OK Movement has its own leadership, structures and internal administrative processes and therefore cannot be absorbed into the party.
“The OK Movement remains an independent organisation. Its existence and internal administration are not subject to the internal management of the NDC,” he said.
He added that political cooperation did not amount to organisational subordination.
“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,” Ughulu said.
According to him, the movement’s structures, which extend from the national level to states, local government areas and wards, were developed by its members and would remain under its control.
He said the organisation would continue to coordinate its members and undertake mobilisation activities in support of its preferred candidates without surrendering its internal machinery to the NDC.
“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.
Ughulu also argued that the movement should be able to establish its own campaign and mobilisation mechanisms in support of the NDC candidates.
He said he was not aware of any provision in the NDC constitution that expressly prevented an independent political organisation from establishing its own campaign structure while supporting the party’s candidates.
The OK Movement, he stressed, was not claiming authority over the NDC or seeking to interfere with the party’s constitutional responsibilities.
“The OK Movement does not claim supremacy over the NDC Party, nor does it seek to usurp the constitutional powers of the party,” he said.
He said the movement recognised the NDC’s authority over its internal affairs but expected the party to similarly recognise the OK Movement’s separate identity and organisational interests.
The disagreement follows earlier tensions between the two sides over campaign structures. The NDC previously said it had not authorised the campaign council announced by the OK Movement and warned that no support group or individual could constitute a campaign structure on behalf of the party without approval from its National Working Committee.
Ughulu said the OK Movement would challenge, through lawful and democratic means, any attempt to take over its structures or redefine its organisational identity without the consent of its legitimate organs.
He argued that the movement had been built through the participation of members and coordinators across the country and that its structures could not simply be dissolved or transferred by an individual or another organisation.
“We will not be intimidated, we will not surrender our identity and we will not abandon the structures we have built,” he said.
The Director-General also said the movement did not intend to depend financially on the NDC, maintaining that its activities and mobilisation efforts would continue to be funded and organised through its own members.
He described the OK Movement as a platform comprising people from different political backgrounds who share support for Obi and Kwankwaso.
Ughulu said the movement would continue to mobilise, campaign and participate in the democratic process in support of its preferred candidates while maintaining its organisational autonomy.
The latest disagreement adds to questions over how independent political movements and formal party structures will coordinate their activities ahead of the 2027 elections.
