ARISE News Director of Politics, Akin Osuntokun, says the OK Movement is correct to describe itself as independent of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), arguing that support groups can operate outside the formal structure of the political party.
Osuntokun, who spoke on ARISE NEWS on Friday, said the movement could accommodate members of different political parties who support Peter Obi’s presidential bid, stressing that its independence distinguishes it from the NDC’s formal structures.
“ think the OK Movement, you know, they are correct to take that position. I mean, they are independent of the party structures.
“I mean, for instance, you may have members from ADC, APC, and other parties. You can have them in the OK Movement if, for instance, the other parties don’t want to vote for the presidential candidate of the other parties.
“So that is even a scenario to stress, you know, the independence of the OK Movement.
“The only area where they are dependent is the membership of the NDC, in which case the officials of the NDC can then take punitive actions against them—that’s if they are members of NDC.
“So that is the, for me, as far as I can see, that is the onus. They are correct to say they are independent of NDC, and there will be more, you know, there are likely to be more of such groups as we go on, the more the merrier.”
However, Osuntokun said the controversy had been partly created by what he described as a delay by the NDC in constituting its presidential campaign council.
“But, you know, having said that, I think what is—Look, the party itself, the delay in constituting the party’s campaign council is what this position of the OK has played into.
“The NDC, as far as I can see, ought to by now have constituted its presidential campaign council. It is that vacuum, you know, that the OK Movement is moving into.
“If the NDC has constituted the official presidential campaign council, whatever groups come up with its own, it’s of no essence really; they have no reason, you know, to worry about support groups.
“They are not competing with the established structures of the party; I would think that they are complementary to the established structures in the party.”
He, however, noted that NDC members who participate in such support groups remain bound by the party’s rules and regulations.
“But having said that, as I said earlier, if these guys are members of the NDC, then they are subject to the discipline and the regulations of the party, in which case the party hierarchy may now choose to punish them—suspension of membership or whatever—because they have the legal right, to the extent that their membership of NDC, they have to abide by rules and regulations of the NDC.”
Osuntokun also said Peter Obi could help address any concerns within the NDC over the activities of support groups backing his presidential bid.
“I don’t think why that should be the case. Look, the presidential candidate, I mean, that they are supporting, he can—If the NDC hierarchy is disturbed by the OK Movement or any other support group like the Obidient Movement, talk to their presidential candidate, you know, and ask him, request him to talk to these other support groups if they are doing anything that they believe distracts from the legitimacy of the NDC hierarchy.
“That’s the role he can play.
“But it’s a very tricky situation. I mean, ordinarily, as I said, you know, if the purpose of the movement or other support groups, you know, is to get Peter Obi across the presidential election line, then the more the merrier. That’s the way I see it, but in terms of exercising influence and control over the support groups, that falls squarely, you know, on the lap of the presidential candidate himself.
“In any case, look, you should also recall earlier there has been some sort of conflict over this issue earlier on, when the Obidient Movement was also claiming ownership, sort of claiming ownership of Peter Obi more than the NDC.
“So that had happened earlier, they can manage it the same way. I’m sure that there are people who are not members of NDC who will be supporting that ticket.
“So that is the way they should—I don’t see any reason why they should feel concerned about any outside group, you know, constituting the campaign council.
“But if they are agitated about it and they want something done about it, that onus falls on their presidential candidate, you know, to talk to those support movements.”
Reflecting on his experience as Director-General of Peter Obi’s presidential campaign in the last election, Osuntokun said the Obidient Movement existed before Obi joined the Labour Party.
“Well, you know, in the last campaign season, when I was the DG of the presidential campaign council, there is a fact that people may not—well, people should know: Obidient Movement actually preceded Obi’s movement into the Labour Party.
“So it has been functioning, you know, in that capacity.
“The Obidient Movement itself, you know, evolved, you know, from the—I think the National Union of Students, that crisis that pitted the students against the state, in which unfortunately some students lost their life. EndSARS, yes, EndSARS protests, something like that. That was, I think, where the Obidient Movement evolved from.
“So, again, I think the argument, the balance of the argument is in favor, you know, of any independent—The word ‘independent’, you know, has clarified the situation.
“When you are independent of an institution, a campaign council, that means that you are not responsible to that party. That is the meaning of it, but that also presupposes—that does not include what can be defined as conflict, as having the existence of the support group, in this case the OK Movement, if it can be argued that it is in conflict, right, with the—”
Osuntokun’s comments come amid a controversy over the membership of the OK Movement campaign council and its relationship with the NDC and the Obidient Movement ahead of the 2027 elections.
Boluwatife Enome
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