Moñino (2010), followed by Blench (2012), propose that they may instead be most closely related to the Central Gur languages, or perhaps constitute an independent branch of Niger–Congo, but that they do not form a group with Ubangian.
The researchers Moñino (2010) and Blench (2012) suggest that these languages may be most closely related to the Central Gur languages or could constitute an independent subgroup within Niger-Congo, differing from Ubangian.