NDC Set to Unveil Presidential Campaign Council, Reveals Date

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has announced October 20, 2026, as the date for the inauguration of its Presidential Campaign Council ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The party’s National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, disclosed this while addressing journalists on Saturday.

According to the NDC executive, the party had developed the structure of the campaign council and was consulting its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and vice-presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, on key appointments.

Cleopas said the party had deliberately delayed the inauguration to ensure that the campaign structure was properly constituted before the commencement of full-scale political activities.

According to him, the National Working Committee (NWC) had held several meetings since August to develop the campaign structure and submit proposals to the party’s leadership for consideration.

He explained that the party wanted to be careful in selecting those who would occupy key positions in the council, given the importance of the 2027 presidential election.

“It is better to get it right. It is a sensitive election that we are going into. And we must check characters,” Cleopas said.

The NDC chairman also disclosed that the October 20 event would include the presentation of certificates of return to the party’s candidates and a dinner intended to strengthen cooperation among them ahead of the elections.

He dismissed suggestions that the party had become inactive or was experiencing internal divisions, insisting that its leadership and candidates had continued engaging with Nigerians across the country.

Cleopas cited the party’s recent activities in Sokoto and Kaduna states and announced plans to visit Enugu State on October 15, saying the party had remained active despite the delay in inaugurating its presidential campaign council.

“We have been in Sokoto, we have been in Kaduna, on the 15th, we shall be in Enugu. So it is not to mean that we have not been working,” he said.

He maintained that the party’s leadership, including the National Leader, the NWC, the National Executive Committee (NEC), state chapters, local government chapters and ward structures, remained committed to supporting all its candidates.

The chairman also defended the party’s presidential ticket, describing Obi and Kwankwaso as representatives of Nigeria’s religious, ethnic and generational diversity.

According to him, the two candidates had the party’s mandate to lead its campaign for the 2027 elections.

“Our presidential candidate and vice-presidential candidate today have the mandate of the party to lead us into political battle, on a rescue mission for this country,” Cleopas said.

He explained that the NWC could not independently make all the appointments into the presidential campaign council because Obi and Kwankwaso were leading the party into the election and needed to be involved in selecting people who would help coordinate the campaign.

Among the positions being considered are Director-General, Deputy Director-General, Director of Finance, Director of Mobilisation and spokesperson.

Cleopas said the experience, relationships and political networks of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates would be important in determining the composition of the council.

Cleopas also rejected allegations that the NDC National Leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, was working with the ruling APC or President Bola Tinubu to undermine Obi’s presidential ambition.

He argued that Dickson had chosen not to pursue the presidential ticket for himself and had instead provided the party’s platform for Obi and Kwankwaso to contest the election.

The chairman challenged those making the allegations to explain why Dickson would have relinquished the opportunity to contest the presidency if he intended to work against the party’s candidates.

“That’s benevolence. So if certain social media analysts today will be propagating negativity that Seriake Dickson, leader of NDC, is having a pact with APC, is working for Tinubu, is not supporting Peter Obi, do they even think if he wanted to play so, wouldn’t he have taken the presidential ticket from this party?” he asked.

He urged the media to avoid spreading what he described as false claims about the party’s leadership, stressing the importance of factual reporting as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 elections.

The NDC chairman further disclosed that the party had begun recruiting and training polling agents to protect its votes during the elections.

He said the party was drawing lessons from challenges encountered during the 2023 presidential election and was working to strengthen its structures across the country.

According to Cleopas, candidates contesting senatorial and House of Representatives seats would work with stakeholders in their constituencies to nominate polling agents for the federal elections. Governorship and House of Assembly candidates would coordinate similar arrangements at the state level.

He stressed that protecting votes would be a major priority for the NDC in 2027, urging voters to remain at polling units until the votes were counted and properly transmitted through the electoral process.

“Voting alone is not it, but vote and protect your vote, and make sure that your vote gets to the point that it will be counted for,” he said.

The announcement comes as political parties begin putting their campaign structures in place ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has scheduled its presidential campaign council’s inaugural meeting for October 14, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) inaugurated its Presidential Campaign Council on October 9.

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