The Labour Party‘s (LP) 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has expressed sadness over Doyin Okupe’s passing.
Okupe, 72, died on Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was a special assistant on media and publicity to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and then a senior special assistant on public affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He was appointed director-general of the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential campaign in 2023, but resigned in January 2024, around ten months after the general election.
However, in November 2024, Okupe stated that he would no longer support Obi, the LP’s flag candidate in the recent election.
In a post on X on Friday, Obi commiserate with the family of the late former presidential aide, urging his supporters — ‘Obidients’ — to pray for the repose of his soul.
“With great sadness this morning, I received the shocking news of the death of my dear elder brother, Dr. Doyin Okupe. On behalf of the family and the Obidient family, I sincerely mourn his passing,” Obi wrote on X.
“Dr. Okupe was an active figure in the nation’s political space and a man who desired a better Nigeria.
“His death is a profound loss – not only to his family and loved ones but to all of us.
“I would therefore like to urge members of the Obidient Movement and other groups to pray for the eternal repose of Dr. Okupe’s soul and to remember his family during these trying times.
“May God Almighty, who called him home, grant him eternal rest and grant his family, and all of us, the fortitude to bear this sad and irreplaceable loss.”
Okupe was born in Iperu, Ogun state, on March 22, 1952. He earned his medical degree from the University of Ibadan in Oyo state.
Discussion about this post