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.
The Director-General of the OK Movement, John Ughulu, said the movement would not allow the NDC or any other organization 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 organization.
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 organized, 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 realize that politics has long evolved from the conventional political system he is used to.
