NDC Leader Dickson Blasts OK Movement’s 59-Member Presidential Campaign Council
- NDC national leader Seriake Dickson fired back at the Obidient-Kwankwaso Movement after the group set up a 59-member presidential campaign council
- Dickson spoke after a stakeholders meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, where former SGF Babachir Lawal officially joined the NDC
- The NDC had already distanced itself from the council list, but the OK Movement insisted it needed no party approval to organise
PAY ATTENTION: Find it fast with our new search feature at Legit.ng!
Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over eight years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
FCT, Abuja - Senator Seriake Dickson, the national leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has publicly condemned the Obidient-Kwankwaso (OK) Movement's decision to establish its own presidential campaign council.
Dickson called the move "nonsensical" and a breach of the proper role of support groups.
Source: Facebook
As reported by TheCable, he made the remarks on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in Abuja, following a meeting of NDC stakeholders.
The gathering also saw Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, formally join the party, nearly four months after he left the African Democratic Congress on June 1.
OK Movement's council sparks dispute
The controversy began on September 17, when the OK Movement unveiled a 59-member committee made up of zonal and state coordinators, along with directors overseeing mobilisation, women's affairs, strategy, security, and legal affairs, among other portfolios.
The movement named John Ughulu as the council's director-general and Saadatu Sani as its secretary.
The OK Movement backs Peter Obi, the NDC presidential candidate, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, his running mate, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Two days after the list was published, the NDC leadership publicly distanced itself from the council, describing it as unauthorised and urging the public to disregard it.
In response, the OK Movement said it did not require approval from any individual within the party before carrying out its legitimate organisational functions.
Dickson draws line on support groups
Dickson was direct in his criticism, saying support groups exist to back political parties, not to rival them.
"Support groups don't compete with the political party that is sponsoring candidates. Support groups don't compete for supremacy and space," he said.
He added that such groups should not appoint themselves as critics or attempt to assume functions that belong to the party itself.
"They provide grassroots support and mobilisation. They don't convert themselves into critics of the political party sponsored. They don't attack the political party sponsored," Dickson said.
Pointing to other major parties, he noted that support groups attached to the All Progressives Congress and others had never attempted anything similar.
"None of them will dare say they are setting up a presidential campaign council. It is unheard of. Nonsensical."
He added that those in a position to guide the movement had a duty to do so.
Despite the tension, Dickson said the NDC remained open to working with support groups, including Obidient groups, and that he had already held meetings with some of them.
"The more support groups within the NDC, the merrier," he said.
OK Movement dares NDC over presidential campaign council
Earlier, Legit.ng also reported that the OK Movement's National Secretary, Saadatu Sani, fired back at NDC's National Chairman after the party rejected the movement's newly unveiled presidential campaign council.
NDC distanced itself from the 59-member presidential campaign council the OK Movement announced, with John Ughulu as National Director-General.
Sani demanded that the NDC national chairman withdraw statements she described as defamatory and apologise to the movement and Ughulu.
Source: Legit.ng
