Ex-presidential spokesperson Doyin Okupe is dead.
Glamtush reports that the former Presidential spokesperson to former Presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Doyin Okupe, is dead.
Okupe, from Iperu-Remo, Ikenne Local Government area of Ogun State, who was said to have been sick for some time, died in the early hours of Friday in Lagos at the age of 72.
The Chairman of Ikenne Local Government, Jamiu Ashimi, confirmed the demise of the medical doctor turned politician on Friday.
Ashimi said, “I just confirmed the tragic news of the passing of Dr Doyin Okupe. May his soul rest in peace.”
In his tribute to the late Okupe, the Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun described the medical doctor’s death as a “personal loss”.
“Receiving the news of the passing of my elder brother, Dr. Doyin Okupe has left me with a profound sense of personal loss, especially coming so soon after the transition of the Alaperu of Iperu Remo, Oba Adeleke Idowu-Basibo Without a doubt, Dr. Okupe’s departure leaves a void that will not be easily filled,” the governor said in a statement.
“Beyond his political and professional engagements, Dr. Okupe was an affable, easy-going, and principled individual who, despite never flaunting his credentials, played a significant role in Nigeria’s resistance to military rule. Like many other democracy advocates, he endured detention and persecution under military regimes, standing firm in his convictions.”
He condoled the Okupes over the incident and prayed that the “Almighty God grants his family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss”.
Last year, Okupe opened up on his battle with cancer which he said led to weight loss.
“It’s part in part, the first problem was cancer I had and the chemotherapy makes you lose appetite, you have nausea, and even as you sustain for several months, you lose weight,” Okupe said on an edition of Channels Television’s Political Paradigm.
“When I started chemotherapy, I was 127kg, and then I came down to 97kg… the chemotherapy ended and I went back to 103kg.”
As a medical doctor, the former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) worked as a health practitioner before venturing into politics.
Okupe was Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Olusegun Obasanjo and in 2012, former President Goodluck appointed him as a Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs.
He worked as the Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign for the 2023 election. He was instrumental to LP’s campaign in that poll but dumped the party owing to what he described as ideological differences.
Okupe was born in Iperu, Ogun State, and attended St Jude’s School and Igbobi College both in Lagos State. He thereafter left for the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, to study medicine.
