ABUJA — Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has formally rejected and disowned the unauthorized 59-member Presidential Campaign Council recently unveiled by the Obi-Kwankwaso (OK) Movement, insisting that all campaign operations must remain subordinate to the formal structures of the party.
The intervention follows days of escalating public friction between the national leadership of the NDC and the executive organs of the OK Movement after the support group published a comprehensive campaign matrix. The controversial list named the movement’s founder, John Ughulu, as Campaign Director-General alongside National Secretary Saadatu Sani and six geopolitical zonal coordinators.
Addressing political stakeholders and media representatives in Abuja on Thursday, September 24, 2026, Obi declared that no support organization—regardless of its size, numerical reach, or historical role in mobilizing voters—possesses the statutory or constitutional mandate to announce an official presidential campaign council.
Reaffirming his commitment to party discipline, the former Anambra State governor aligned his position with the NDC National Working Committee (NWC), led by National Chairman Senator Cleopas Moses. Obi stressed that while independent political movements provide essential grassroots energy, they cannot operate as parallel party organs or preempt official campaign machinery.
“Candidates running on a registered political platform are subject to the authority, order, and discipline of that party,” Obi noted. “Support groups are invaluable pillars of democratic mobilization, but they are support groups—they do not replace the party, nor can they unilaterally constitute a national campaign council.”
The disavowal coincides with high-level consensus reached between Obi, his running mate Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, NDC National Leader Seriake Dickson, and members of the NWC to constitute the official NDC Presidential Campaign Council. Under the agreed framework, key positions—including the official Campaign Director-General, regional directors, and media spokespersons—will be jointly nominated by the candidates and party leadership to ensure operational cohesion.
The rift had previously triggered internal disruption within the support group, prompting the resignation of the OK Movement’s National Head of Operations, Francis Nnoli, who cited the imperative for political order and alignment with the NDC platform. With Obi’s decisive public stance, the NDC leadership is expected to unveil its authorized campaign leadership matrix in the coming days ahead of the formal launch of the 2027 presidential campaign season.
