The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Funso Doherty, has promised free maternal and child healthcare, including drugs, if elected governor in the 2027 governorship election. He made the promise during the Lagos Governorship Debate organised by the Nigeria Debate Consortium, a coalition of media organisations comprising The PUNCH, Channels Television, TVC News, TheCable and Vanguard Newspaper.

The debate gave candidates a platform to present their plans for the state ahead of the 2027 polls.

Doherty also pledged to increase the combined budgetary allocation to health and education from about 15 per cent to 28 per cent during his first term. He said the proposed increased funding would reflect a shift in government priorities towards the two critical sectors, while allowing the state to progressively expand access to healthcare and consider health insurance as part of broader reforms. He said the current allocation to health was inadequate, noting that health and education together received about 15 per cent of the state budget.

Speaking on healthcare financing, Doherty said maternal and child healthcare would be fully free under his administration, including the provision of drugs, rather than limiting free services to consultations. He said patients often visited government hospitals for consultations but were subsequently asked to pay for tests elsewhere and purchase prescribed medicines, leaving those unable to afford the additional costs without proper care. He insisted that free care must be real, not nominal.

In his words, maternal and child care for us would be free, not nominally, but fully free, inclusive of drugs. He said the same principle applied in his wider manifesto, where he promised free healthcare for pregnant women and children up to the age of 16, including medicines.

The promise is part of his 34 point manifesto titled Ona Tuntun, meaning New Road, which contains 34 specific commitments across health, education, housing, transport, environment, jobs and small business and honest governance.

Doherty acknowledged that his proposed healthcare reforms might not all be implemented immediately, but said his administration would begin with fully free maternal and child healthcare before expanding the services.

He said if his team started with totally free healthcare for maternal and child care, then it could expand it as it went along. He presented the phased approach as a realistic way to manage costs while still delivering immediate relief to families.

Beyond health, Doherty has also promised free education through secondary school and technical colleges, free textbooks and nutritious meals for public school pupils, and 150,000 housing units within four years. He said Lagos had sufficient resources to improve essential services but needed better spending priorities and less waste.

He argued that cutting waste and changing how public funds were spent would free resources for health, education and other critical services.

Other candidates in the race have also presented competing plans for health and transport, including emergency stabilisation centres in every ward and expanded mass transit. For voters, the debate has sharpened the choice between continuity and change in Lagos. Doherty maintains that the All Progressives Congress can be defeated in Lagos again, citing the party loss in Lagos during the 2023 presidential election. With the governorship election scheduled for February 6, 2027, his free maternal and child healthcare promise is likely to remain a central plank of his campaign.