By Taiwo Okanlawon
A former governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Congress, ADC, in Lagos State, Funso Doherty, has dumped the party for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Doherty confirmed this in a statement posted on his official X page on Monday night.
According to him, he took the decision following extensive consultations.
“After extensive consultations, I have resigned from the ADC and joined the PDP. With humility and an appreciation of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, I look forward to working collectively to build the Lagos of our dreams,” he wrote.
Funso was born in Lagos on 16 June 1968. His father, the late Dr. Henry Aderounmu Aremu Doherty, a medical doctor, was also born in Lagos, in the year 1900 to “Oga” Josiah Henryson Doherty (popularly known as “the prince merchant of Alakoro”).
His paternal grandmother, Germana, was from the Reis family. Funso’s mother, Gladys Urunowonekawo Kirstein, now in her nineties, was born in 1931 to an Itsekiri mother, Mary Kponuko Eyesan and a German father.
Funso grew up in the Yaba area of Lagos on Wakeman Street (now Borno Way). His father owned and operated a private Medical Practice on Aje Street, following a career as a medical officer dating back to the colonial administration which he joined after completing medical school in Glasgow, Scotland in 1926. His mother retired from the then National Electric Power Authority after successfully completing 35 years in the civil service.
Funso attended Corona School Victoria Island, Lagos, where he was appointed and served as Head Boy, completing his primary education in 1979. He was admitted into King’s College Lagos, which was also his father’s alma mater (Dr. Henry Doherty completed his studies at King’s College in 1918). While at KC, Funso was a Federal Government Academic Scholar. He was also a recipient of the school’s Service to College Life award, for being elected by his peers to serve as Form Captain for four Consecutive terms of office.
After KC, Funso commenced undergraduate studies at the University of Lagos where he studied Accounting, graduating with Second Class Upper Division Honours in 1990. While at Unilag, he was a member of the well-known ABC Club, and was ultimately elected by his peers as Chief of the club.
