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Prominent Nigerian politician and former Lagos State gubernatorial candidate, Funso Doherty, has said the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has a strong chance ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking on News Central TV’s Breakfast Central on Wednesday, Doherty said the opposition party has a realistic opportunity to upset the political status quo in the next election cycle.
“The conclusive answer to your question is that not only do we stand a chance, we stand an excellent chance. We stand a better chance in 2027 than we have in any cycle that I can remember previously, and I’ll explain why,” he said.
Doherty questioned the widespread belief that the APC remains politically unbeatable, particularly in Lagos State, where the party has governed for decades. According to him, electoral figures from previous elections show low voter participation rather than overwhelming support for the ruling party.
“Yes, you may say that the Deputy Governor enjoys support within his party. I expect him to enjoy support within his party. That’s his party, right?” he said. “That does not mean he’s the candidate of the people.”
The politician argued that the APC’s victories in Lagos do not necessarily reflect broad public approval.
“Lagos has seven point something million registered voters. The total votes cast in the last election was about a million one, a million two. That’s 15 percent, of which APC probably got about 700,000. So they were elected on 700,000 votes out of 7 million registered voters.”
He added, “There’s no evidence that that is a popular government.”
Doherty also stressed that the large number of registered voters who stayed away from the polls could dramatically alter future election outcomes if mobilised.
“For every one person that came and voted, six people who could have voted and were registered either did not come or whatever, did not vote,” he said.
“So depending on how that extra vote goes, the outcome could be just dramatically different from what you see presently.”
He linked the growing political discontent to worsening economic hardship, citing the sharp rise in fuel prices and declining living standards under the current administration.
“The electorate is in a very difficult place, far more difficult than they were in the last cycle and the cycle before that,” Doherty said.
“There’s a lot of discontent in the system.”
Recalling a recent interaction with a commercial driver, he said ordinary Nigerians are struggling to survive.
“The other day I was in a car, the guy was driving me, and all he was talking about throughout the time he was driving me was how the fortunes of his business have dramatically declined as petrol has gone from 200 to 1,300,” he stated.
“Can you imagine what 200 to 1,300 does to somebody whose petrol is his biggest cost?”
Doherty maintained that the 2027 election could produce unexpected outcomes because many assumptions about the APC’s political dominance may no longer hold.
“I think that many of the assumptions that APC has been in power for 30 years and they are unassailable and all of that, I think all of those things must be taken with a huge pinch of salt,” he said.
“Let’s just observe, let’s wait and see. I think 2027 will be unusual and you can see already that it is unusual.”
“Not only do we stand a chance, we stand an excellent chance…we stand a better chance in 2027 than we have in any circle that I can remember…”
Lagos governorship aspirant Funsho Doherty says available data from the last election does not show that the ruling party is the… pic.twitter.com/Fb3SGuhqSF
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) May 13, 2026
