By Pascal Ibe
Introduction
During a political panel at the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, heated a debate broke out among the 2027 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore; Vice Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi engaged in a heated debate over fuel subsidy and national governance
The drama unfolded on Monday during a panel session on state affairs and economic policy, where Sowore launched a direct attack on mainstream politicians, accusing successive administrations of exploiting ordinary Nigerians under the guise of subsidy removal.
Claim
While, speaking, Obi said that before he became the Anambra governor, there was no accredited nursing college in the state. However, the NDC presidential hopeful claimed that “today Anambra State has the highest number of accredited nursing and midwifery schools in Nigeria.”
The claim by Obi immediately generated a round of applause from the audience who believe that what he said is true.
Verification
However, a check on the highest regulatory body of the nursing schools in Nigeria indicated that the claim by Obi is false.
According to the latest statistics by the Nursing & Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) on its website Enugu State has the highest number of colleges of nursing and midwifery, followed by Edo, 17; Imo and Kaduna States, which are third with 16 each.
Kano and Ogun States have 15 nursing schools each.
While Abia and Anambra States can boast of 14 accredited schools
The list
- Abia 14
- Adamawa 2
- Akwa Ibom 11
- Anambra 14
- Bauchi 8
- Bayelsa 3
- Benue 4
- Borno 7
- Cross River 12
- Delta 9
- Ebonyi 10
- Edo 17
- Ekiti 4
- Enugu 18
- Gombe 4
- Imo 16
- Jigawa 7
- Kaduna 16
- Kano 15
- Katsina 5
- Kebbi 4
- Kogi 7
- Kwara 8
- Lagos 9
- Nasrawa 4
- Niger 5
- Ogun 15
- Ondo 5
- Osun 12
- Oyo 13
- Plateau 9
- Rivera 10
- Sokoto 8
- Taraba 4
- Yobe 3
- Zamfara 8
- FCT 12
Click here to see the accredited nursing colleges state by state.
The council said that it approved Schools of Nursing, Midwifery, Post Basic Nursing, and Departments of Nursing with the Accreditation Status and Admission Quota on a State Basis.
Presently there are Two Hundred and Ninety (290) Nursing Training Institutions in Nigeria. Find below the list of Nursing Training Institutions in Nigeria approved by the Council as at December 2025.
Verdict
Data by NMCN showed that Obi’s claim that Anambra State has the highest number of accredited schools of nursing than any other state in Nigeria is FALSE.
