Dr. Doyin Okupe, prominent politician and presidential spokesperson for Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, has died.
Okupe reportedly died Friday, March 7, 2025 about 1.30am while undergoing treatment at Euracare Hospital Victoria Island in Lagos.
His death was said to be from complications related to cancer.
Doyin, aged 72, was married to Aduralere Okupe and they had two children.
According to sources close to the family, Dr. Okupe had been critically ill from an undisclosed ailment before his demise.
In October 2023, Okupe was hospitalised for prostate cancer and was flown to Israel for treatment.
More recently, Okupe featured as the Director-General of Peter Obi’s 2023 Presidential Campaign in the Labour Party.
In December 2022, he stepped down from Obi’s campaign after being convicted of money laundering and thereafter resigned from the Labour Party after the 2023 general election.
Adedoyin Ajibike Okupe (22 March 1952 – 7 March 2025), better known as Dr. Doyin Okupe, was a Nigerian physician and politician who co-founded 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.
His national politics began with being appointed National Publicity Secretary of the National Republican Convention (NRC).
Okupe was Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Olusegun Obasanjo and Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan.
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.
Although Okupe was a medical doctor and was also once a publisher of a health newspaper called Life Mirror.
The General Sani Abacha military government detained Okupe on 3 October 1996.
Later on, in March 1998, during the aborted transition programme of Abacha, he was among the politicians who were disqualified from participating in United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) primaries.
Okupe joined the Labour Party ahead of 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.
