Dickson Blasts OK Movement Over ‘Parallel’ Campaign Council

 

National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Seriake Dickson, has warned the Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, popularly known as the OK Movement, against operating as a parallel structure to the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Dickson described the movement’s decision to constitute a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council as inappropriate, insisting that support groups should complement political parties rather than compete with them for political space and authority.

He spoke in Abuja while receiving former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, into the NDC, amid a growing disagreement between the party leadership and the support group backing its presidential ticket of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.

The dispute followed the unveiling on September 17 of a 59-member campaign council by the OK Movement, comprising zonal and state coordinators as well as directors responsible for mobilisation, women affairs, strategy, security, legal affairs and other areas. John Ughulu, the movement’s Director-General, was named Director-General of the council, while Saadatu Sani was appointed secretary.

The NDC subsequently distanced itself from the council, saying the list did not emanate from the party and should be disregarded. The party said its own official presidential campaign council would be constituted separately, with Obi and Kwankwaso expected to nominate key officers in consultation with the NDC leadership.

Reacting to the development, Dickson said support groups were expected to provide grassroots mobilisation and promote candidates, not assume the functions of political parties.

“Support groups don’t compete with the political party that is sponsoring candidates. Support groups don’t compete for supremacy, for space,” he said.

He added that such groups should not become critics of the political party whose candidates they support, describing the decision to establish a separate presidential campaign council as “unheard of” and “nonsensical.”

Dickson said the NDC recognised the importance of support groups and was prepared to work with them, but insisted that their activities must remain within their proper roles.

However, the OK Movement has rejected the NDC's position, insisting that it is an independent organisation with its own structures across the country. Its Director-General, Ughulu, said the movement would not surrender or collapse its structures into the NDC, deepening the disagreement over how the 2027 campaign should be organised.

The controversy comes at a time the NDC is seeking to consolidate its structure around the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket, while the recent defection of former SGF Babachir Lawal has added another prominent figure to the party's growing political profile.