⁠‌⁠‍‌‍‍‍⁠⁠‌​The Obi-Kwankwaso (OK) Movement has reaffirmed its independence and maintained that its Presidential Campaign Council remains valid and operational.

This is despite the objection of Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), to the establishment of the Council.

Speaking on an ARISE Television programme, Obi had said, “OK Movement is Obi and Kwankwaso. So whatever you do must have express approval of both of us.

“OK Movement, Obidient group, Kwankwasiyya, and other support groups are supporting groups. They must play their role as support 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.”

But in a statement issued after the interview, National Director-General of the movement, John Ughulu, said the movement’s internal structure is separate from the organisational structures of the NDC.

Ughulu said the movement’s leadership decisions and organisational mechanisms did not require validation or approval from the party leadership.

He said the OK movement recognised candidates contesting under the NDC platform as potential beneficiaries of its grassroots mobilisation and political structure.

“No candidate should consider himself or herself superior to another on account of political position, office or proximity to party leadership,” he said.

According to him, the OK movement had never claimed superiority over the NDC, and the party remains a political organisation with its own constitutional structures.

Ughulu described the OK Movement as an independent political organisation with its own principles, values, leadership and organisational framework.

He said the movement did not require financial support from the NDC presidential candidate, or the party to establish or operate its organisational structure.

He said the movement’s position on its independence and organisational authority was communicated before the announcement of its Presidential Campaign Council.

“Neither the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria nor the NDC Constitution automatically vested exclusive authority in the party or its candidate to determine the internal structure of an independent political organisation,” he said.

Ughulu said the NDC was entitled to constitute and manage its own campaign structures, just as the OK movement was entitled to organise and manage its affairs within the limits of applicable law.

He said the movement would not accept attempts by any individual or group to undermine, appropriate, dissolve or interfere with its organisational structure and leadership.

“Our position is not about confrontation. It is about clarity, institutional respect and the protection of organisational independence,” he said.

Ughulu, however, said the movement remained willing to engage constructively with the NDC and work with its principles, values and structures.

He said the movement would not abandon its principles or organisational identity to satisfy the preferences of any individual or group.

“The meaning of independence is straightforward. The NDC has the right to constitute and manage its own campaign structures.

“An independent political organisation has the right to constitute and manage its own organisational structures, subject always to the law,” he said.

Ughulu said the OK movement would continue to focus on grassroots mobilisation and its stated mission of contributing to the transformation of Nigeria.

He said that the movement’s structure remained as announced, while its principles and mission remained unchanged.