The Labour Party's candidate for president, Peter Obi, has received the support of no fewer than 38,000 doctors and other healthcare professionals.
Additionally, they pledged to mobilise 25 million votes in favour of the former Anambra state governor through no-cost nationwide medical outreach programmes for the general public under the banner of Docs and Medics for Peter Obi.
Ada Orji Nwanyanwu, the National Woman Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, left the party at the same time and encouraged other female politicians all over the nation to join the Labour Party.
Dr. Uche Uzoukwu, convener of Docs and Medics for Peter Obi, spoke on Monday at the Labour Party's headquarters in Abuja during the presentation of working tools by three support groups to the campaign council of the party. He described how the group plans to secure the 25 million votes needed in 2023.
He stated: “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 attend to patients. With this, we can have 25 million votes.
“We want to deliver 25 million votes, by giving right to life and to be well, the votes can be gathered. Medical outreaches have been in place and is still being used. Community members at the outreaches are encouraged to vote Peter Obi with a promise that the exercise will continue once Labour Party wins,” he said.
Uzoukwu lamented the situation of the country's health sector and asserted that Obi had the ability to stop brain drain, emphasising that the medical professionals would stick behind after the 2023 elections to advance the industry.
He noted that the organisation had provided logistics throughout the PVC registration window period for people without voter cards to be registered by INEC officials, noting that this was done in 26 states and 52 different sites where thousands were registered.
Prior to this, Barrister Julius Abure, the National Chairman of the Labour Party, stated that while democracy has not existed in the nation since 1999, it will start to develop in 2023 when the former governor of Anambra is elected president.
He claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Peoples Congress, which are currently in power, are not owned by the people, but rather by those who provide financial support for them, adding that whoever plays the bagpipes determines the song.
Abure also made fun of people who had complained that the party lacked structure, claiming that such narratives had been buried as a result of the party's growing popularity.
Ada Orji Nwanyanwu, the national woman leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, and other female politicians defected to the LP at the same time as the event.
Nwanyanwu claimed that the reason she was leaving APGA was that "Peter Obi has the solution to the problems facing Nigeria."