Peter Obi has rejected the 59-member Presidential Campaign Council set up by the Obi-Kwankwaso Movement, declaring that his support groups cannot take over the functions of the political party.
Obi’s position has deepened the brewing row between the Nigeria Democratic Congress and the OK Movement over who controls the campaign machinery for the 2027 presidential election.
The NDC presidential candidate spoke on Arise TV’s Prime Time on Thursday, where he backed the position of the party’s national leader and former Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson, on the controversial campaign council.
Obi made it clear that the NDC remains the political platform for his 2027 presidential bid, while the OK Movement, Obidient groups, Kwankwasiyya and other organisations should operate as support groups.
He said the groups could mobilise support for the party but should not create structures performing the functions of the NDC.
The former Anambra State governor was particularly blunt when asked whether he knew about or approved the 59-member campaign council unveiled by the OK Movement.
“Not at all. And I say it here, it is wrong,” Obi said.
He added that because the OK Movement was built around himself and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, any major decision taken in their name required their express approval.
The controversy erupted on September 17 when the OK Movement announced a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council with zonal and state coordinators and directors overseeing areas including mobilisation, women’s affairs, strategy, security and legal affairs.
But the NDC quickly disowned the structure, insisting that only the party could constitute and announce its official Presidential Campaign Council.
The OK Movement fired back, maintaining that it was an independent political organisation with its own leadership, structures and internal processes. The group also said it would not surrender or collapse its structures into the NDC.
Obi’s latest intervention now puts him squarely behind the NDC’s position, with the presidential candidate declaring that support organisations must support the party rather than operate as a parallel political structure.
The development is coming barely days after the NDC authorised Obi and Kwankwaso to nominate key officials of the party’s official Presidential Campaign Council in consultation with the party leadership.
The move effectively places the question of the official campaign structure back in the hands of the NDC leadership, Obi and Kwankwaso, while leaving the status of the OK Movement’s independently announced council in dispute.
For now, the major question hanging over the Obi-Kwankwaso camp is whether the movement will abandon its separate campaign structure following Obi’s public rejection or maintain its claim to independence.
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