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The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in next year’s election, Peter Obi, has spoken publicly about a 13-month doctors’ strike that paralysed public healthcare in Anambra State during his time as governor.
In a trending video, referencing a strike that began in February 2011 and ran through to February 2012, Obi argued that the fact that the public survived the prolonged stoppage raised a question about the effectiveness of the medical doctors, who were on strike at the time.
“If the doctors were very effective, in 13 months, there was no mass death. That means something is missing, because after 13 months we are still alive”, he said.
The strike, which lasted over a year, came at a time when Obi was at the helm of Anambra State’s government. Rather than framing the period as a crisis his administration weathered, Obi’s comment appeared to suggest that the survival of residents through the strike called into question how indispensable the state’s public doctors had been in the first place.
Obi, who was the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, resigned from the African Democratic Congress on May 2, 2026. He was subsequently ratified as the presidential candidate of the New Democratic Congress (NDC) on May 29, 2026, ahead of the 2027 general elections, making his public statements subject to heightened scrutiny as he intensifies his campaign.
