From Wakeman Street, and back.
1900
His Father Is Born in Lagos
Henry Aderounmu Aremu Doherty, Funso's father, is born in Lagos to “Oga” Josiah Henryson Doherty, popularly known as “the prince merchant of Alakoro”.
1926
Medical School in Glasgow
His father completes medical school in Glasgow, Scotland, and joins the colonial administration as a medical officer. He later runs a private practice on Aje Street.
1968
Born in Lagos
Funso is born in Lagos on 16 June 1968 and grows up on Wakeman Street, now Borno Way, in Yaba. His mother, Gladys, works 35 years in the civil service at the National Electric Power Authority.
1979
Head Boy at Corona School
At Corona School, Victoria Island, he is appointed Head Boy, and he completes his primary education in 1979.
After 1979
King's College Lagos
He goes to King's College Lagos, his father's alma mater, as a Federal Government Academic Scholar. His peers elect him Form Captain for four consecutive terms, and the school gives him its Service to College Life award.
1990
University of Lagos
He graduates in Accounting from the University of Lagos with Second Class Upper honours. His peers elect him Chief of the ABC Club.
1990–1991
National Service
He is Platoon Leader at Yikpata camp in Kwara State, then teaches for a year at a rural community secondary school in Okehi.
1991–1994
Arthur Andersen
He joins Arthur Andersen & Co. (now KPMG) in Lagos on about ₦1,800 a month, rises to Senior and passes the qualifying examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
1994
A Pioneer of Mutual Funds
He joins Asset & Resource Management Company at its inception and becomes one of the pioneers of Nigeria's mutual fund industry.
1995
He Marries Orode
He marries Orode Omolara Williams, of the Williams family of Olowogbowo, Lagos.
1999–2001
Harvard
Funso takes his MBA at Harvard Business School while Orode studies at Harvard's School of Public Health. Both graduate in 2001.
2001
Goldman Sachs, New York
He joins the Investment Management Division of Goldman, Sachs & Co., and is in downtown Manhattan on 9/11.
After 2001
PNC Advisors
He becomes a Vice President at PNC Advisors, the investment management business of the PNC banking group, at its head office in Pennsylvania.
2005
Home to Build ARM Pensions
He comes home as pioneer Managing Director/CEO of ARM Pension Managers and builds it into one of Nigeria's leading pension fund administrators. Fellow operators choose him as the first Chairman of the Pension Fund Operators Association.
2011
Doherty and Company
He moves on to private investing and sets up Doherty and Company.
2014–2017
ValuAlliance
With the African Capital Alliance group he leads ValuAlliance Asset Management as Managing Director/CEO and co-investor. In 2017 he is nominated as Director-General of the National Pension Commission; the appointment is never concluded.
2022
PAL Pensions
He completes his tenure as Managing Director/CEO of PAL Pensions, where he led a nationwide team managing over half a trillion naira in assets.
2023
First Run for Governor
Funso runs for Governor of Lagos State.
2023–2026
Principal, Doherty and Company
He leads Doherty and Company as Principal and stays active in politics and governance.
2026
Running Again, With the NDC
In April he declares again for Governor of Lagos, and in May he joins the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
October 2026
A Running Mate and a Plan
On 8 October the party unveils Tolani Animashaun as his running mate, alongside Ọ̀nà Tuntun, 34 commitments for Lagos.
2027
Ó Ti Yá
Lagos chooses its next Governor, and Funso Doherty is the Nigeria Democratic Congress candidate.
His Running Mate, Tolani Animashaun
The Nigeria Democratic Congress unveiled Tolani Animashaun as its candidate for Deputy Governor alongside Ọ̀nà Tuntun on 8 October 2026. She brings experience in education, finance and community mobilisation, and has pledged to expand opportunity for young people, improve education and make sure public money is accounted for.
Report of the unveiling. Her full biography will be published here.
Why I'm Running
I am asking for your support to become Governor of Lagos because I want more Lagosians to have the opportunities that helped shape my own life.
I grew up in Yaba, attended King's College and studied at the University of Lagos. Public institutions helped prepare me for a career building and leading businesses entrusted with people's savings and pensions. I know the responsibility that comes with managing money that belongs to others.
For years, I have asked questions about how our government spends public money. Behind every figure in a budget are people whose needs that money should meet. Money wasted on an inflated contract is money unavailable for medicines or maintaining a road. I am seeking this office to take responsibility for changing those priorities, and to submit myself to the same scrutiny I have demanded of others.
The Lagos that worked for me was not lost. It was let go. And what was let go can be rebuilt.
From Funso Doherty's Letter to Lagosians and his Ọ̀nà Tuntun speech, 2026.