ABUJA — The Obi-Kwankwaso Movement (OK Movement) has openly defied the leadership of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), vowing never to surrender or collapse its independent, nationwide organizational network into the party’s central apparatus ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The public refusal, issued on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, marks an acute escalation in the rift between the political support coalition backing Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso and the executive hierarchy of the sponsoring political platform.
The dispute follows public statements by NDC National Chairman Senator Cleopas Moses and party leader Senator Seriake Dickson, who disowned the movement’s recently unveiled 59-member Presidential Campaign Council and warned external organizations against creating parallel structures that undermine party authority.
Reacting to the party’s warnings, the National Secretary of the OK Movement, Saadatu Sani, issued a statement rejecting the NDC’s demand for structural subordination. Sani emphasized that the movement represents an autonomous, grassroots political organization with its own independent leadership, internal processes, and widespread network spanning all 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory, and the 774 local government areas.
Sani insisted that the movement’s vast grassroots structures were built through years of independent mobilization and organic public support rather than party funding or executive directives. She warned that no external entity holds the legal or moral authority to dissolve, absorb, or forcibly transfer the movement’s organs into a formal party command without explicit approval from its own governing council.
Demanding an immediate public apology from the NDC leadership, the OK Movement maintained that support coalitions must be treated as equal partners rather than administrative subordinates. The group affirmed that while it remains fully committed to mobilizing voters for the Obi-Kwankwaso presidential ticket, it will operate its 59-member campaign council independently alongside whatever official structure the party eventually inaugurates for the 2027 campaign cycle.
