OK Movement Defies Peter Obi, Seriake Dickson, Insists Campaign Council Remains Valid

The Obi-Kwankwaso (OK) Movement has insisted that its contentious Presidential Campaign Council remains valid and operational despite opposition from some Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) leaders.

Naija News reports that the National Leader of the NDC, Senator Seriake Dickson, slammed the OK Movement over its campaign council, calling the move “nonsensical.”

The NDC Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, also supported Dickson’s position, arguing that a support group must not take over the party’s role.

In a statement, the OK Movement’s Director General, John Ughulu, stressed the independence of its political structure, explaining that it does not receive financial support from Obi or the party to run its affairs.

He said, “The mechanism through which the OK Movement operates is founded upon its established principles and values.

“Consequently, the movement does not and has not required any financial support from His Excellency, Peter Obi, the NDC presidential candidate, or the NDC to establish or operate its own organisational structure.”

Ughulu said the OK Movement remained an independent political organisation whose structure and leadership did not require NDC leadership approval.

He argued that their political structure was modelled so that its leadership does not depend on Obi, his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and the party for funding.

According to him, the group had never claimed superiority over the NDC, noting that the party was a political organisation with its own constitutional structures while the movement had its own principles, leadership and organisational framework.

Ughulu further argued that neither the Nigerian Constitution nor the NDC constitution, as presented to the movement, automatically vested the party or its candidate with authority over the internal structure of an independent political organisation.

“There is no provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, nor any provision of the NDC Party Constitution brought to our attention, that automatically vests exclusive authority in a political party or its candidate to determine the internal organisational structure of an independent political organisation.

“The NDC Party is entitled to constitute its own campaign structures, just as the OK Movement is entitled to organise and manage its own affairs within the limits of applicable law,” he said.

“Our position is not about confrontation. It is about clarity, institutional respect and the protection of organisational independence. If the party chooses to work with the principles, values and structures of the OK Movement, we remain prepared to engage constructively.

“However, the movement cannot be compelled to abandon its principles or organisational identity to satisfy the ambitions or preferences of any individual or group.

“The meaning of ‘independent’ is straightforward. The NDC has the right to constitute and manage its own campaign structures. Likewise, an independent political organisation has the right to constitute and manage its own organisational structures, subject always to the law,” he noted.