The presidential ambition of the candidate of the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, got a boost on Monday with over 38,000 doctors and medics in Nigeria promising to mobilised 25 million votes for him in the 2023 general elections.
The medical practitioners, under the aegis of ‘Docs and Medics for Peter Obi’, expressed optimism that he was capable of stopping the menace of brain drain in the health sector.
The convener of the organisation, Dr. Uche Uzoukwu, stated these in Abuja during the presentation of working tools by three support groups to the LP campaign council.
The event also coincided with the defection of National Woman Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Ada Orji Nwanyawu and other women politicians to the LP.
She said she was leaving APGA because Obi has the answer to the challenges facing Nigeria.
Uzoukwu regretted that the present regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has failed to address the challenges facing the country.
According to him, already, at the Local Government level, a total of 500,000 medics have been reached to encourage the people and get in touch with 50 persons each.
Uzoukwu said the plan of the organisation was to deliver 25 million votes in 2023, adding that giving the right to life and wellness, the votes will be gathered through outreaches that have been in place and are still used.
He said, “Nurses, doctors and pharmacists are coming together under the name docs and medics for Peter Obi. Politics is a game of numbers and everyone is important. Therefore, 11,000 doctors, 27,000 medics have come together and have formed even state groups.
“We are reaching out to the local governments and have moved down to the wards and leaders have been inaugurated. We are moving down to the polling units and have 500,000 to grow and encourage them to get in touch with 50 people as the attention to patients. With this, we can have 25 million votes.
“We want to deliver 25 million votes, by giving the right to life and to be well, the votes can be gathered. Medical outreaches have been in place and is still been used. Community members at the outreaches are encouraged to vote Peter Obi with a promise that the exercise will continue once Labour Party wins.”
Uzoukwu said with the poor state of the nation’s health sector, brain drain would be tackled as the group pledges to remain behind and develop the sector.
He recalled that during the window period of PVC registration, the group had paid for logistics for persons without voters cards to be registered by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, adding that such was done in 26 states and 52 different locations where thousands were registered.
The National Chairman of Labour Party, Julius Abure, said the country has never experienced democracy since 1999, but would however begin on its course come 2023 when the former Anambra governor is voted in as president.
He stated that the All Peoples Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party were never owned by the people but by those who funded it, adding that he who blows the piper, dictates the tune of the music.
Abure also slammed critics who had claimed that the LP lacked structure, saying such narratives have been buried due to the rising popularity of the party.
