…vows to maintain its independence outside party’s control
Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, popularly known as the OK Movement, has replied the national leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Seriake Dickson, after he described the group’s campaign team as ‘nonsensical’.
The OK Movement also rejected any attempt by the NDC to take control of its structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.
It stressed that it would maintain its independent identity and would not allow its national, state, local government or ward structures to be absorbed into the NDC.
The movement’s Director-General, John Ughulu, made the position known while responding to comments by the NDC national leader on the role of political support groups in the party’s preparations for the 2027 elections.
Ughulu accepted Dickson’s general point about support groups but disputed its application to the OK Movement.
Dickson had said support groups do not compete with political parties that are sponsoring candidates, noting that it is nonsensical.
Dickson had criticised the decision of the OK Movement to establish a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council, arguing that support groups should assist political parties rather than create structures that compete with the official machinery of the party.
The former Bayelsa State governor had said that support groups should concentrate on mobilisation and support for candidates.
Dickson had said,
“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.”
But Ughulu disagreed with the description of the OK Movement as an ordinary support group.
He maintained that the organisation was independently established and operated its own leadership and mobilisation structures.
According to him, the movement brings together people from different political backgrounds who are united by their support for Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, the NDC presidential candidate and running mate ahead of the 2027 election.
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 organised, managed and structured through its own established movement mechanisms.”
