PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has expressed sadness over the death of former presidential spokesman, Doyin Okupe, who passed on Friday morning.
The president acknowledged Okupe’s “profound impact on Nigeria’s political landscape.”
Tinubu, through his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said Okupe was “a bold and articulate advocate for national development.”
He said Okupe died at a time when his wealth of experience and insight were still needed by Nigeria.
The president extended his condolences to the deceased’s family, friends, and associates.
He also sympathised with the government and people of Ogun State, particularly Okupe’s Iperu-Remo community, recognising the vacuum his death leaves behind.
Tinubu prayed for the repose of his soul and comfort for people he left behind.
Similarly, the Labour Party’s (LP) 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, expressed deep sorrow over Okupe’s passing.
Obi, in a statement via X on Friday, described Okupe’s death as a deep loss, not only to his family and loved ones but to the nation.
He urged members of the Obedient Movement and the public to pray for the repose of Okupe’s soul and support his family as it mourned.
“May God Almighty, who called him home, grant him eternal rest and grant his family, and all of us the fortitude to bear this sad and irreplaceable loss,” Obi added.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun also mourned the late medical doctor-turmed-politician. He described his death as a personal loss.
Abiodun, in a statement issued in Abeokuta by his Special Adviser on Media, Kayode Akinmade, stated that Okupe’s passing came shortly after the demise of the Alaperu of Iperu Remo, Oba Adeleke Idowu-Basibo.
The governor extolled Okupe’s “tireless service to Nigeria” and described him as a patriotic statesman and a committed member of the progressive political family.
A former Director-General of the LP Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, also sent in his condolences.
Osuntokun, a former News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Managing Director, said Okupe made distinctive contributions to Nigerian politics.
“He was a key political figure with great vigour, he brought creativity to the politics of Nigeria. May his soul rest in peace,” Osuntokun said.
The ICIR reported that Okupe’s death was announced on Friday, March 7. He was aged 72.
Born on March 22, 1952, in Iperu, Ogun State, Okupe’s career spanned several decades, during which he held significant political positions.
He began his political journey during the Second Nigerian Republic as a House of Representatives candidate for the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the 1983 parliamentary elections.
In the aborted Third Republic, he served as the National Publicity Secretary for the National Republican Convention (NRC).
Throughout his career, Okupe was associated with various political parties, including the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party.
In 2002, he was a governorship aspirant in Ogun State under the PDP and later served as a senior special assistant on media and public affairs to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In July 2017, he announced his defection from the PDP to join the Accord Party.
However, after accepting the role of chairman of the Campaign Media Council for Bukola Saraki during the PDP’s 2019 presidential primaries, he was expelled from the Accord Party in September 2018.
During the 2023 general elections, Okupe served as the director-general of the Peter Obi Campaign Organisation.
In this capacity, he was initially nominated as the vice presidential candidate (placeholder) for the LP before stepping down to allow for the selection of Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed as the substantive running mate.
However, after the 2023 general election, he exited the Labour Party and became a vocal proponent of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance