In what seemed to be a major setback for Olumide Akpata, the Labour Party candidate for the upcoming Edo State gubernatorial election, medical doctors in Benin City under the National Medical Association (NMA) Benin Chapter, staged a notable boycott of an interactive session scheduled with the candidate.
The event, which was slated to take place at Doctors House, UBTH Ugbowo on Tuesday, was intended to provide Akpata an opportunity to engage with the medical community and solicit their support ahead of the September 21st election.
However, despite extensive publicity and mobilization efforts, the doctors conspicuously failed to attend, leaving the venue deserted.
Eyewitnesses reported that only a handful of about 12 doctors briefly showed up, only to leave shortly after. The sparse attendance prompted Akpata to reportedly make urgent calls, attempting to mobilize University of Benin (UNIBEN) students to fill the empty seats and mitigate the embarrassment of the situation.
Sources close to the medical community revealed that the boycott was largely motivated by skepticism among doctors regarding Akpata’s electoral prospects. Many doctors allegedly viewed the meeting as a futile exercise, given their perception that the Labour Party candidate had minimal chances of winning the election and was merely a sponsored candidate to siphon votes.
A resident doctor at UBTH, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed the sentiment prevalent among his colleagues, stating, “It was pointless to engage with a candidate who stands no chance in the election and appears to be sponsored to waste votes.”
