Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress has rejected a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council announced by the Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, describing the structure as unauthorised and directing the public and the media to disregard it. The party's National Chairman, Senator Cleopas Moses, made the position known in a statement on Saturday, September 19, 2026, three days after the support group unveiled the council to mobilise support for NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi and his running mate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The OK Movement had presented the 59-member structure as a nationwide mobilisation platform for the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket. The council included zonal and state coordinators, as well as directors responsible for mobilisation, women's affairs, strategy, security, legal affairs and other key areas. John Ughulu, the movement's Director-General, was named Director-General of the campaign council, while Saadatu Sani, the movement's National Secretary, was named secretary. The council also included representatives from the six geopolitical zones, the Federal Capital Territory and the 36 states. In a statement on Thursday, Sani said the movement was focused on mobilising Nigerians around the possibility of a better, more prosperous, united and functional Nigeria.
However, the NDC leadership was swift to distance itself from the announcement. "The party hereby dissociates itself in totality from the said OK Movement PCC announcement. It did not emanate from the party and should be disregarded by the public and the media," Moses said. The NDC chairman insisted that only the party leadership could constitute and announce its Presidential Campaign Council. "All candidates of the party must appreciate that they are not running as independent candidates," he said. "They are products of the party and remain subject to the authority and discipline of the party. Therefore, only the party's leadership can constitute and announce a Presidential Campaign Council."
Moses further warned members, candidates and support groups against establishing campaign structures in the name of the party without approval from the National Working Committee. "Henceforth, no individual or group is authorised to announce, constitute, or publish any campaign council, structure, or organ in the name of the party without prior approval from the National Working Committee," he declared. While acknowledging the role of support groups in the party's political activities, Moses cautioned them against presenting themselves as alternative or parallel structures. "While the party will continue to work collaboratively with all support groups, such groups should not see themselves as alternative party structures or parallel organs of the party," he said. He also urged members and support groups with grievances to use the party's internal mechanisms rather than making public statements or attacks.
The NDC chairman said Ughulu would be referred to the appropriate disciplinary organ over what he described as his "excesses during the primary election in Lagos State" and "repeated disregard for party authority." The disciplinary process will be conducted in line with the provisions of the party's constitution. The development has brought into focus the distinction between the support group's campaign structure and the formal campaign machinery that the NDC says can only be constituted by its leadership. The party said it remains focused on its issue-based campaign and commitment to delivering what Moses described as a "New Nigeria that is possible."
The rejection of the campaign council is the latest flashpoint in the internal politics of the NDC, a relatively new political platform that has become the vehicle for the Obi-Kwankwaso presidential ticket. The OK Movement, which was established to mobilise support for the ticket, had operated with considerable autonomy, drawing on the nationwide networks that Obi and Kwankwaso built during their previous political campaigns. The NDC leadership's decision to disown the council and summon its director-general underscores the party's determination to assert control over its campaign apparatus and prevent support groups from operating as parallel power centres. As the 2027 elections draw closer, the NDC will need to balance the energy and reach of its support groups with the need for a unified, disciplined campaign structure. Whether the party can achieve that balance without alienating the very networks that have made the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket a formidable force remains to be seen.
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