Ex-Presidential spokesperson Doyin Okupe dies at 72

Doyin Okupe, who once served as a presidential aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, has died at the age of 72, his close associates have confirmed.

A close friend of late late physician, Akin Osuntokun confirmed to BusinessDay in a phone conversation that the former aide to ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo is “dead”.

Okupe, according to family sources had serious battle with prostate cancer in the last couple of years.

He was said to have died after a long battle with the disease. In October 2023, Okupe was hospitalised with prostate cancer and went to Israel for treatment, but his condition didn’t improve as hoped.

Okupe was first diagnosed with prostate cancer 16 years ago and later developed another type of cancer (sarcoma) in his right shoulder.

Early Life and Education

Born in Iperu, Ogun State, Okupe was the son of a banker, Chief Matthew Adekoya Okupe. He went to St. Jude’s School in Lagos and Igbobi College before studying medicine at the University of Ibadan.

After becoming a doctor, he helped start the Royal Cross Medical Centre in Lagos with two colleagues and served as its Managing Director.

Political Career

Okupe later went into politics, serving as the spokesperson for the National Republican Convention. He worked as a media assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo and later as a senior aide to President Goodluck Jonathan.

In 2022, he briefly became the vice-presidential candidate for the Labour Party before stepping down. He then served as the Director-General of the Labour Party’s Presidential Campaign team.

Okupe left the Labour Party in January 2024, explaining that his own political beliefs (as a “rightist and liberal democrat”) didn’t match the party’s left-leaning ideology. He described the Labour Party as a temporary vehicle he used for the 2023 presidential elections after leaving the People’s Democratic Party.

Read Also: Ex-Obi campaign chief, Doyin Okupe dumps Labour Party on ideological differences

In December 2022, Okupe was found guilty of breaking money laundering laws by accepting over N200 million in cash from former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki. The law doesn’t allow cash payments over N5 million without going through a bank, but Okupe received multiple N10 million payments between 2012 and 2015.

The court sentenced him to two years in prison for each of 26 counts but gave him the option to pay a N500,000 fine for each count (N13 million total). Okupe paid the fine immediately and avoided jail time.

Okupe was married to Aduralere Okupe and had several children, including Ditan and Bolu. In April 2020, he and his wife caught COVID-19 but later recovered.