A former presidential aide Doyin Okupe is dead. He was 72.
Family sources confirmed his death to Channels Television on Friday. But details of circumstances leading to his demise are sketchy as of now. He hailed from Ogun State.
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.
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.
