Twice presidential media and public affairs aide Dr. Doyin Okupe has passed on at 72.
Okupe a trained medical doctor turned politician in 1999 became President Olusegun Obasanjo’s special assistant on on media and publicity, later he joined the government of President Goodluck Jonathan in the same capacity. His last political foray was being the director of campaign for Peter Obi’s Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election.
“Receiving the news of the passing of my elder brother, Dr. Doyin Okupe has left me with a profound sense of personal loss,” said Ogun State governor Dapo Abiodun
“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.”
Last year, Okupe told Channels TV he had cancer.
“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.
“When I started chemotherapy, I was 127kg, and then I came down to 97kg… the chemotherapy ended and I went back to 103kg.”
