Lagos 2027: How Engineer Adedeji Doherty Plans to Build a Free, Buoyant and Secure Lagos for All

By Wale Abiodun

The race for the 2027 governorship election in Lagos State has taken a decisive turn with the emergence of Engineer Adedeji Doherty as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Doherty, a veteran politician, industrialist and current National Vice Chairman (South-West) of the PDP, was unanimously adopted by delegates from the 20 local government areas of the state at a primary election held in Ikeja on Sunday, May 25, 2025.

The primary, conducted by the party’s electoral committee led by Olalekan Rotimi and monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, was organized by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led nationally by Alhaji Abdurahman Mohammed.

Two days later, Doherty was at the PDP national headquarters, Wadata House, Abuja, where he received his Certificate of Return and addressed a press conference to unveil his vision for Lagos.

For the 64-year-old engineer, the journey to Alausa Government House is a familiar one. He first sought the PDP governorship ticket at the age of 38. Twenty-six years after, he is making his fourth attempt, a persistence he says is a message of loyalty and belief in God’s time.

“I have been consistent with the party. I have not moved to another party or visited another party. I have moved up the ranks as Financial Secretary of the zone, Organising Secretary of the zone, Acting Vice-Chairman of the zone, State Chairman of the party in 2019, Deputy National Secretary and now substantive National Vice-Chairman South-West,” Doherty told journalists.

That long political apprenticeship, he argues, has prepared him for the task of governing Nigeria’s economic capital.

Doherty is not just a politician. He is an entrepreneur who says he has built companies, failed in some and succeeded in others. It is that private sector experience, he insists, that gives him an understanding of what businesses need to thrive and what Lagosians are going through.

At the centre of his campaign is a document he calls “A Free, Buoyant Lagos for All” – a 10-point development agenda that touches every critical sector of the state.

The first pillar is Roads and Transportation. Doherty says Lagos needs an integrated transport system that works.

The second and third are Education and Healthcare. He lamented that despite being the Centre of Excellence, Lagos still struggles with out-of-school children and unaffordable healthcare. He disclosed that his administration will leverage the fact that 90 percent of pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria are domiciled in Lagos to convene an industry roundtable aimed at crashing the cost of drugs.

Housing, Water Supply, and Power form the next set of priorities. On power, he made a bold promise – to bring down electricity tariffs in Lagos within the first two months of his administration through state equity participation in distribution companies and innovative partnerships.

Security is perhaps the most urgent item on his agenda. The PDP candidate says he will deploy technology, strengthen community policing and collaborate with other South-West governors to secure lives and property in Lagos.

The remaining pillars are Youth Empowerment, Women Development and Social Welfare and Environment.

“Our focus will be on the future of our youths and building a Lagos that works for everyone,” he said.

Doherty believes Lagos, with its huge revenue profile, should be doing more to complement the Federal Government’s economic policies and ensure that the benefits trickle down to ordinary citizens.

“Despite its huge revenue profile, Lagos still faces significant challenges in critical sectors such as education, healthcare, transportation and infrastructure. We shall provide a new direction,” he declared.

Political analysts say Doherty’s emergence is significant for two reasons. First, it signals an attempt by the Wike-led PDP bloc to present a united front in the South-West ahead of 2027. Second, it introduces into the Lagos race a candidate who knows the political terrain of the state intimately.

“There will be no leader in any substantive party in Lagos State who will say they don’t know Engineer Adedeji Doherty,” he boasted at the press conference.

Whether that name recognition will translate into votes in a state that has been under progressive rule since 1999 remains to be seen. But Doherty is confident.

For now, his message to Lagosians is simple: a free Lagos where opportunities are not restricted, a buoyant Lagos where the economy works for all, and a secure Lagos where residents can sleep with both eyes closed.

The journey to 2027 has just begun.