Ahead of the 2023 elections, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has called for a psychiatric evaluation of governorship and presidential candidates.
Atiku Abubakar (PDP), Bola Tinubu (APC) and Peter Obi (LP) are the frontline presidential candidates ahead of the 2023 vote.
According to the professional body, the medical tests of the candidates would provide a comprehensive view of the state of the body system of those aspiring to hold political offices in the country.
This comes on the heels of calls for medical screening of candidates to determine their state of health, with many Nigerians arguing over the constitutionality or otherwise of such a move.
The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), stoked the controversy in April when he asked political parties to include drug integrity tests as part of the screening processes for candidates.
The NMA President, Dr Uche Ojinmah, in a chat with newsmen on Tuesday, listed the battery of tests that candidates should undergo to ascertain their state of health and fitness for office.
“Simple medical check-ups such as chest X-ray, cardiac echocardiography, abdominal ultrasound scan, urinalysis, kidney function test, liver function test, blood pressure and blood glucose assessment will give one a comprehensive view of the state of the body system.
“Sadly, people applying for top-level jobs like Chief Medical Director or Medical Director in our public service are made to undergo these tests while those contesting for executive and legislative posts don’t,” he told PUNCH.
“We also want them to undergo psychiatric evaluation. These shall exhaustively evaluate the people vying for the ultimate job in Nigeria,” the NMA president added.
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On how the tests should be done, Ojinmah said; “The NMA could be given the responsibility of choosing an independent panel of people who are well known in those different fields to carry out the tests because the problem is that if you allow a government agency like the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria or others, the government in power can influence it.”