By Clifford Ndujihe
PENSION Administration czar, and Mr. Funso Doherty, has asked leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to start packing their loads out of the Lagos State Government House because their hold on the reins of governance in the state will end next year.
Doherty, who is aspiring to govern Lagos on the platform of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, said he would mobilise 2.5million of the over six million registered voters in the state to win the election.
If elected, Doherty, the managing director and CEO of Pensions Alliance Limited, PAL Pensions, who declared his intention to challenge Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the Alausa Round House, on Tuesday, said he would reform the public service and cater for the welfare of the people.
“Reforming the public service will free up resources that can be re-directed in the enlightened public interest to enable Lagos do more in the following areas: reducing the burden of tax and regulatory harassment on small enterprises, improving the ease of starting and doing business, delivering innovative traffic, power and broadband solutions, investing in primary, maternal, child and mental health, rebuilding quality in education, including qualitative vocational options, safety net programs especially for children, the elderly and disabled.”
Promising that his administration would focus on reducing the burden of tax and regulatory harassment on small businesses, he said there is an urgent need to invest more in transportation and security infrastructure in Lagos. He said both sectors would be key focus of his agenda.
Asked why he is plunging into the murky waters of Nigeria’s politics, Doherty, who holds a Masters in Business Administration, MBA, from Harvard University and a B.Sc. in Accounting from the University of Lagos, said it was time for credible people to join the process.
According to him, that is the only way to ensure a robust democracy and save the electorate from what he described as “government of the people by some people and for themselves,” that has unleashed negative human development indices on Nigeria.
He described public office as a trust, noting that a lot of people run away from it because it is rough and tough.
The former Managing Director of ValuAlliance Asset Management Ltd, a member of the African Capital Alliance (ACA) Group; pioneer managing director and CEO of ARM Pension Managers, pioneer chairman of the Pension Fund Operators Association, PENOP, the umbrella body of all licensed Pension Fund Managers and Custodians in Nigeria, said he has garnered extensive experience he would utilise to change the fortunes of Lagos.
Stating that in his over 25 years of professional practice he has held positions in leading foreign and local firms including Goldman Sachs & Company and PNC Advisors in the United States of America and ARM in Nigeria, Doherty urged other credible professionals and technocrats to join politics and offer good leadership.
“I am stepping forward today because all around us we see evidence of this misalignment between the actions of leadership and the interests of the people. Officers of government agencies that should be instruments of service to the people often act like predators preying on the very people they exist to serve. Importantly, they should be paid decent wages, without which the moral authority to insist on integrity is undermined and without which there can be no lasting solution.
“By 2023, the current democratic era which started in 1999 will be one year shy of a quarter century. That is almost a whole generation. Nations have gone from third world to first world status in a generation. The 2022 approved budget for Lagos State is approximately N1.7 trillion. This is equivalent to the budget of several states combined. Just imagine if that expenditure is put to work competently, faithfully, honestly and transparently with the best public interest in mind and devoid of self-dealing. Then imagine this scenario is built on and repeated every year for 25 years. This is how states and nations are transformed.
“It is with a great sense of humility, responsibility and history, that I announce that I have joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and that by the grace of God, I intend to contest for the office of governor of my home state, Lagos.”
Speaking on the 2023 polls, Doherty warned that voter apathy plagued past polls may recur unless the political class re-jig the way politics is being played in the country, saying “right now, it is more like a commercial or criminal process. When you look at the process over the years, people have felt that their votes will not count and their lives will not change.”
He insisted since the political class have a critical role to play in shaping the minds of voters and in demanding for the best, they must shape up now, in the interest of the country.
Comparing Nigeria to Singapore and other developed countries, he said Nigeria has no reason to be down the ladder because she is more endowed in terms of human and material resources.
To change the sad narrative, said Nigerians must ensure that votes count, ensure credible alternatives that must represent the interest of the people, change the psyche of the electorates by giving them something to hope for, and awaken the youths among others.
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