Reason I ‘Went Quiet’ After Elections – Utomi

Reason I ‘Went Quiet’ After Elections – Utomi

Prof. Pat Utomi, a prominent figure in the Labour Party, disclosed on Friday that he has been battling prostate cancer, which he was diagnosed with last year. He cited this health struggle as the reason for his recent absence from public activity.

Through a series of tweets, the former 2011 presidential candidate for the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP) emphasized the impact of prostate cancer on men’s lives, terming it a source of suffering and mortality.

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Utomi contended that if individuals were alerted in advance, there could be better management of the suffering and an increased likelihood of successful treatment, much like the preventive efforts for breast cancer among women.

“After a biopsy confirmed my positive diagnosis last year, I embarked on treatment at a cancer center with branches in Ikeja and VI,” Utomi shared.

“Even during election campaigns, I would make my way from campaigns to the Ikeja Center near the airport. The doctors would discreetly guide me through the back exit.”

He further explained that once the elections concluded, his younger nephews and cousins who are practicing physicians in Europe and the United States collaborated with the medical professionals at Lakeshore, and together they decided to provide him with direct care.

“This is the reason it may have seemed that I had withdrawn from the public eye, as they took control of my communications to reduce stress,” he added.

Utomi played a significant role in the 2023 presidential campaign for Labour Party candidate Peter Obi, contributing to the emergence of an unprecedented third political force in Nigerian politics.

Despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaring Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the president, Obi and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, are currently contesting the election results through legal proceedings.