The Doherty brothers
What many political analyst describe as non-coincidental, is the emergence of Mr. Funso Doherty, another member of of the Doherty family, as the NDC’s Lagos governorship candidate,
The battle to seize Lagos State by the three major contending parties in the 2027 general elections have begun in earnest. The three leading parties that are in the race are the All Progressives Congress (APC), the People’s Democratic Congress (PDP) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
Mr. Adedeji Doherty is the consensus governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2027 Lagos State gubernatorial election. Mr. Doherty emerged after being unanimously adopted as the sole consensus candidate during the party’s primary in Ikeja, Lagos. Deji Doherty also ran for Governor of Lagos State under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2022/2023 governorship election in Lagos State. His running mate is Mrs. Khadijat Bello. Deji Doherty was the former Lagos State PDP Chairman.
In what many political analyst describe as non-coincidental, is the emergence of Mr. Funso Doherty, another member of of the Doherty family, as the NDC’s Lagos governorship candidate, after a controversial primaries that produced him, which is being contested in the Federal High Court in Lagos. Mr. Funso Doherty also ran for Governor of Lagos State under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2022/2023 governorship election in Lagos State.
Mr. Funso Doherty is yet to name his running mate, as investigations has revealed that the NDC leadership puts a hold on it, instructed the governorship candidates not to select a deputy, because, the party has reserved that position to settle aggrieved contenders.
The Doherty brothers fielding as governorship candidates for the two major opposition parties potents a deeper political undertone designed to position them to capture the State during the 2027 governorship elections. Speculation are rifted that Mr. Funsho Doherty is a mare place holder to weaken the NDC party during the campaign in the election as a mean to allow his brother contesting under the PDP to have an advantage in winning the election..
The NDC is aware of the candidature of the two Doherty brothers in the PDP and the NDC in State governorship race, but have chosen to remain silent despite repeated attempts to interrogate the speculations by many public affairs analysts. The party’s position tends to support word out in public discourse that the NDC is the weakest among the three major parties despite fielding Peter Obi the former Labor Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections as its flag bearer.
These insinuations are not far from the reality, as the NDC is yet to form it’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC). The non formation of the PCC can directly be associated with poor showings by the party’s candidates in the aspects of the ongoing campaigns. This delay by the party in forming the PCC could also be linked to the recent attempt by the OK Movement to forms its own Presidential Campaign Council, that the party’s national leader, Sen. Seriake Dickson in a press interview condemned heavily.
At the same instance, there are several unresolved inter-party court cases by a number of contestants in the party in the governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and the State Assemblies in the recent primary elections across the country who claimed to have won the party’s primaries but were denied the ticket.
The party is also reported to be far behind others in the race in the area of the enlisting polling unit agents, even at such critical times when the general elections is just about four months away. This gap is considered as a serious disadvantage to the NDC, specifically due to the strategic nature and roles of the polling units agents in determining the winner of the election.
The All Progressives Congress is investing heavily in the campaign and been the ruling party for close to twelve years, they have one of the strongest structures amongst all the major contending political parties. The party have commenced massive deployment of campaign materials, branded vehicles, billboards, banners and other campaign souvenirs. In the light of these preparation by the ruling party, skeptics are imaging how the opposition intends to wrestle power away from the APC.
