Funso Doherty quits PDP over leadership ruling

By Seyifunmi Azeez

Prominent Lagos politician Funso Doherty has resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), citing a recent court ruling he says effectively handed party control to supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement on Saturday, Doherty said he did not make the decision lightly after two years of efforts to strengthen the PDP as a united opposition force.

"The events of recent weeks, however, have proven decisive," he wrote.

He referred to a public letter he sent to the Court of Appeal president urging a swift decision on pending PDP litigations ahead of key electoral milestones. The court subsequently nullified the party’s 2025 convention and its outcomes, granting leadership primacy to a group that includes the FCT Minister, a known supporter of the APC administration, Doherty said.

He criticised the federal government for deepening poverty, escalating insecurity, and imposing a high cost of living on ordinary Nigerians, describing its approach as self-serving rather than people-oriented.

"I will not be a party to sustaining this tragic travesty," he added.

A former governorship aspirant who joined the PDP in 2024 after leaving the African Democratic Congress, Doherty stressed his long-standing advocacy for opposition unity, particularly in Lagos State.

"Nigeria's democracy is fragile, and now under increasing threat, so this is not the time for fracturing and division of opposition political forces," he said
He pledged to continue working towards a united opposition and urged Lagos residents to "stay tuned", adding that more details on his next steps would be revealed soon.

Doherty’s resignation comes amid ongoing internal crises within the PDP, which has struggled to present a cohesive challenge to the APC since losing power nationally in 2015.

He signed off the statement from Lagos, where he has been active in pushing for better governance and improved living standards for residents.