By Abiola Olawale
A former presidential spokesperson, Dr Doyin Okupe, has passed away.
According to reports emerging on Friday, Okupe, the former Director-General of Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council, reportedly passed away after a critical condition.
He passed away at the age of 72. Sources close to the deceased family said he had been critically ill in the weeks leading up to his demise.
His health had reportedly deteriorated significantly, prompting concern among his loved ones and supporters.
Born on 22 March 1952 in Iperu in Ogun State of Nigeria, Okupe was the son of Chief Matthew Adekoya Okupe, who was a banker with Agbonmagbe Bank.
He attended St. Jude’s School in Ebute Metta, Lagos, Igbobi College in Yaba, Lagos and the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Although Okupe is a medical doctor, he was very active in party politics.
Okupe worked for some years for government and private hospitals, including St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, before establishing the Royal Cross Medical Centre (also known as Royal Cross Hospital) in Obalende, Lagos, along with his colleagues, Dr. Seyi Roberts and Dr. Ladi Okuboyejo. He was the Managing Director (MD) of Royal Cross Medical Centre.
During the Second Nigerian Republic, Okupe was a House of Representatives candidate of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the 1983 Nigerian parliamentary election.
In the Third Nigerian Republic, Okupe became the National Publicity Secretary of the National Republican Convention (NRC). He was one of the representatives of the NRC that observed the collation of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election results at the headquarters of the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
At the advent of the current Fourth Nigerian Republic, Okupe was appointed Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Later on, in 2002, he was one of the governorship aspirants of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primaries in Ogun State and was a major contender along with Gbenga Daniel.
In 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Okupe as his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs.
Okupe was a publicist at various times to Nigerian presidential aspirants of the PDP, including President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Goodluck Jonathan, Bukola Saraki and Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Okupe joined the Labour Party ahead of the 2023 Nigerian general election and stood in as the running mate and vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party until a substantive candidate was picked.
