NDC/OK Movement rift deepens

•Our structure, independence non-negotiable, group tells party

From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja

The rift between the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and OK Movement has deepened with the movement insisting that its Presidential Campaign Council remains intact and that its independence is not subject to the approval of the party or any of its leaders.

This is just as it maintained that it would resist any attempt to alter, appropriate, dissolve or interfere with the campaign structure it had already constituted and announced, stressing that its status as an independent political organisation gives it the authority to determine its leadership, structure and mode of operation.

The position comes against the backdrop of growing political activity within the NDC ahead of the 2027 general elections and the need to coordinate the campaign structures of the party, its candidates and allied political organisations.

In a statement signed by its National Director General, Hon. John Ozyl Ughulu, on Friday, the OK Movement said its position remained unchanged, regardless of the views of individual NDC leaders or the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

“The Presidential Campaign Council structure already constituted and announced by the OK Movement remains valid and operational, irrespective of the position or opinion of any individual leader of the party or presidential candidate,” Ughulu said.

The movement specifically maintained that its organisational decisions did not require the approval of NDC National Leader, Seriake Dickson, or any other party official.

“We have stated clearly and consistently that the OK Movement is an independent political organisation. Accordingly, its existence, internal structure, leadership decisions and organisational mechanisms do not require the validation or approval of the National Leader of the NDC Party, HE Senator Seriake Dickson, or any other individual within the party leadership,” he said.

The declaration places the movement’s campaign machinery on a separate footing from the formal structures of the NDC, even as both are expected to operate around the party’s candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.