The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has publicly rejected the recent inauguration of a Presidential Campaign Council by the Obi-Kwankwaso (OK) Movement, warning that support groups must not usurp or mimic official political party structures.
Obi made his position known on Thursday during an appearance on Arise TV’s Prime Time program while clarifying the conflict between the NDC leadership and the OK Movement regarding a 59-member campaign council previously rolled out by the group.
The former Anambra State governor reiterated that the NDC remains the sole official platform for his 2027 presidential ambition, stressing that the OK Movement, the Obidient Movement, Kwankwasiyya, and other allied bodies must limit their activities to auxiliary grassroots mobilization.
“First, NDC is the political party we all belong to. And I agree entirely with the position of the leader (Seriake Dickson). OK Movement, Obidient group, Kwankwasiyya, and other supporting groups are supporting groups. They must play their role as supporting groups, supporting the party. They should not play the role of the party. We’ve found a situation where one of the supporting groups is using the nomenclature, that is forming Presidential Campaign Council, it shouldn’t be. No,” Obi said.
The controversy began on September 17 when the OK Movement unilaterally unveiled a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council featuring zonal heads, state coordinators, and operational directorates covering strategy, legal, security, and women’s affairs.
In response, the NDC national leadership issued a statement disowning the structure, clarifying that only the party’s executive organs possess the legal and constitutional authority to set up an official campaign council.
When asked whether the 59-member council was formed with his knowledge or authorization, Obi categorically denied involvement.
“Not at all. And I say it here, it is wrong. You are supporting—OK Movement is Obi and Kwankwaso. So whatever you do must have express approval of both of us,” he said.
Obi’s comments align with statements from NDC National Leader and former Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, who argued that campaign support groups must complement the party rather than duplicate its formal machinery.
Dickson described the creation of a campaign council by a voluntary support group as abnormal under Nigerian electoral politics.
Despite the backlash, the OK Movement leadership previously maintained that it operates as an independent political machinery, refusing past calls to fold its national, state, local government, and ward structures into the NDC.
Meanwhile, the NDC leadership has formally granted Peter Obi and his vice-presidential running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, the authorization to nominate key officials into the party’s official Presidential Campaign Council in direct consultation with party executives.
