The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, has expressed confidence that the party will defeat the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2027 general elections if the polls are free and fair or not.

Abdullahi stated this during an interview on Symfoni TV while responding to questions on whether the ADC would be able to defeat the ruling APC in the 2027 election.

He said the party had no doubt that it would win a free and fair election, but expressed concerns over the possibility of electoral manipulation.

“In a free and fair election, we have no doubt in our minds that we will win this election. The challenge is, will there be a free and fair election?

“We are ready for that. We are ready for anything. We are dealing with these APC people; you have to be ready for anything because we know that they will want to steal the election.

“We will police our votes. We know the things that we will do. We won’t tell you, but we are ready for them because we know that if you dine with the devil, you have to have a long spoon,” he said.

A total of 10,494 Nigerians are listed among staff in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), according to data shared by NHS Million, a UK campaign organisation focused on NHS staff.

Nigeria ranked sixth overall on the list, behind the UK/British, India, the Philippines, Ireland and Poland, making Nigeria the largest African nationality represented in the breakdown.

The data shared by NHS Million showed that more than 1.1 million NHS workers identified as British or UK nationals, while Indians accounted for 32,117 staff and Filipinos 25,423.

It also showed that Zimbabwe had the second-highest number of African nationals working in the NHS, with 4,780, followed by Ghana with 3,395, Egypt with 2,895 and South Africa with 1,829.

The figures highlight the significant contribution of Nigerian professionals to the UK health system, but also come amid persistent concerns over the shortage of health workers in the country.

Nigeria loses thousands of health workers

The 2025 State of Health of the Nation Report, released by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, showed that over 20,000 Nigerian health workers relocated abroad within one year.

The figure included 3,919 doctors, 7,487 nurses and midwives, 6,861 medical laboratory professionals, 702 pharmacists, 658 physiotherapists and 274 dentists, among other health professionals. The report also showed that Nigeria has 95,456 registered doctors, but only 60,551 currently hold active practising licences.

The workforce shortage is further worsened by the uneven distribution of health professionals across the country, with several northern states recording particularly low doctor densities.

UK remains major destination

The United Kingdom is one of the major destinations for Nigerian health professionals.

Data from the UK’s General Medical Council showed that 4,691 Nigerian-trained doctors joined the UK medical register between May 2023 and April 2026, according to a Punch report.

The data also showed that 15,896 Nigerian-trained doctors were licensed to practise in the UK.

READ ALSO: PT Health Watch: How laboratory tests can help detect colorectal cancer early – Expert

The 2025 State of Health of the Nation Report identified external migration as one of the factors affecting the availability of health professionals in Nigeria.

Migration policy yet to be fully implemented

The federal government has introduced several measures aimed at increasing the health workforce and addressing migration.

Nigeria also approved a National Policy on Health Workforce Migration in August 2024, aimed at managing health worker migration, improving retention and strengthening workforce planning.

However, the 2025 State of Health of the Nation Report said that although the implementation plan had been finalised, full implementation had not commenced.

The report said an additional 23,000 frontline health workers were trained in 2025, bringing the number trained between 2024 and 2025 to 78,146, or about 65 per cent of the national target of 120,000.

The policy is intended to improve working conditions, support career progression and establish a more coordinated approach to health worker migration and retention.