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Tag: Doyin Okupe

  • BREAKING: Former presidential spokesperson, Doyin Okupe is dead

    BREAKING: Former presidential spokesperson, Doyin Okupe is dead

    Former Presidential Spokesperson, Dr Doyin Okupe has reportedly passed away.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr Okupe died at the age of 72, after a long struggle with cancer.

    He was senior adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan and, recently,  the Director-General of Peter Obi’s 2023 presidential campaign.

    Born on 22 March 1952 in Iperu, Ogun State, Okupe served as Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to Goodluck Jonathan.

    He attended St. Jude’s School in Ebute Metta, Lagos; Igbobi College in Yaba, Lagos and the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Oyo State.

    Okupe went on to co-found Royal Cross Medical Centre, and was National Publicity Secretary of the National Republican Convention (NRC).

    It would be recalled that in October 2023 Okupe was hospitalized with prostate cancer and was flown to Israel for treatment.

    However, it was learnt that his condition did not improve as he and his family expected.

    Okupe had a history of prostate cancer, first diagnosed 16 years ago, and a later bout with sarcoma in his right shoulder.

     

    Details shortly…

  • 2027 Elections: Okupe denies ruling out Tinubu for re-election

    2027 Elections: Okupe denies ruling out Tinubu for re-election

    A former Presidential Spokesperson, Dr Doyin Okupe, says at no time has he ever ruled out the possibility of President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the 2027 elections.

    Okupe made the remark in a statement on Monday in Lagos, while reacting to some online media reports on his statement regarding 2027 presidential elections.

    The former Director-General of Mr Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council, said that he remained a committed supporter of President Tinubu’s administration.

    Okupe said that he strongly believed in Tinubu’s vision to address the current challenges facing Nigeria, which according to him, are inherited from previous governments.

    “It has come to our attention that some online blogs, including the Daily Post, published a story attributing a baseless and misleading statement to Dr Doyin Okupe, the former Presidential Spokesman, regarding the 2027 presidential election.

    “The article falsely claims that Dr Okupe said the 2027 election would be ‘Game Over’ for President Bola Tinubu, if the North were to field former President Goodluck Jonathan as a candidate.

    “We wish to clarify that this story is a complete distortion of Dr Okupe’s words and a deliberate misrepresentation of his views.

    “What Dr Okupe actually expressed in a tweet only had to do with those he described as pseudo politicians who lack deep thinking, and assume that a joint ticket between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Mr Peter Obi or the North fielding Jonathan as a presidential candidate, would defeat President Tinubu, as those thinking in that direction will be dissappointed.

    “This statement was made in the context of political strategy,” Okupe explained.

    He described the online misrepresentation as a “clear example of media manipulation, designed to misinform the public and sow discord”.

    Okupe called on the general public to be cautious of such misleading narratives and to verify information before forming opinions.

    “He remains unwavering in his commitment to supporting President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the progress of Nigeria.

    “Any attempt to twist his words or intentions will not deter him from continuing to advocate for policies that will help Nigeria thrive.

    “We trust that this clarification will put to rest any confusion caused by the Daily Post’s reporting,” he added.

  • PMS pricing: Okupe chides NNPCL, marketers

    PMS pricing: Okupe chides NNPCL, marketers

    A former presidential spokesman, Dr Doyin Okupe, has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and oil marketers not to make President Bola Tinubu look bad before Nigerians.

    Okupe, in a statement on Friday titled: ‘Dangote Refinery, NNPCL, Oil Marketers and the Voodoo of PMS Pricing’, urged all oil stakeholders to be sensitive to the plights of Nigerians

    According to him, the emerging scenario in PMS pricing appears to aim at making the government, which is no longer involved in petroleum pricing, look bad and indirectly heap undeserved blame on President Tinubu.

    “The opaqueness and lack of transparency in determining the appropriate price of PMS is a national embarrassment.

    “The insensitivity of these agencies to the suffering of Nigerians is inexplicable. The FOB (Free On Board) price of PMS at Rotterdam (as of Friday) is $0.541 per litre, which is N927.82 at N1,715 to $1.

    “The landing cost of PMS in Lagos is N978 per liter. Local refineries save the cost of freight to and from European ports, which comes to approximately N85 per liter of PMS.

    “From every empirical but accurate calculation, no local refinery should sell above the FOB price at Rotterdam less savings from freight charges of N85, which is N842.83,” he said.

    Okupe, a former Director-General of Peter Obi 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, tasked NNPCL, Dangote Refinery, and oil marketers to contradict his position.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that barely three weeks after raising the price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, NNPCL  adjusted the pump prices of the commodity, upwardly.

    The national oil firm raised the retail price of petrol in Abuja from N1,030 to N1,060 per litre.

    In Lagos, NNPCL stations increased the unit price of the commodity from N998 to N1,025 per litre.

  • Why political crisis in Rivers State must be resolved quickly – Okupe

    Why political crisis in Rivers State must be resolved quickly – Okupe

    A former presidential spokesman, Dr Doyin Okupe has said the political crisis bedevilling Rivers State has got to a point where it could seriously harm the nation’s democracy.

    Okupe, in an interview on Sunday, said the crisis has the potential to destabilise the nation, if not quickly resolved. He described the feud  between Gov. Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers and his predecessor and FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike and the attendant political tension in the state as unfortunate.

    “Going down memory lane, one is sad to note that the feud between Wike and Fubara is comparable to that between late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the then Premier of the Western Region, Chief Samuel Akintola.

    “As remote and limited this crisis was then, it was one of the precursors of the collapse of that republic. It will be wise for the Federal Government and men of goodwill in Rivers and the entire nation to move in on this matter before it goes completely, and uncontrollably out of hands,” Okupe said.

    According to him, it is clear that only political solution, no matter how difficult it is to arrive at, can be effective in resolving all issues and all sides in the crisis.

    Wike and his successor, Fubara, have been engaged in political struggle over the control of the state for some months now, which has created tension in the state and  polarised the state assembly.

    The crisis worsened following the conduct of the Oct. 5  council elections ,the outcome of which led to  violent destruction of some council secretariats by political thugs.

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja  had on Thursday affirmed a lower court’s decision ,nullifying the state’s  2024 budget signed into law and being operated by Fubara, further creating uncertainty.

    The N800 billion budget was passed in December 2023 by a faction of the  state’s House of Assembly loyal to Fubara, led by Edison Ehie.

  • Ex-Labour Party campaign DG fires back at critics, insists Tinubu doing well

    Ex-Labour Party campaign DG fires back at critics, insists Tinubu doing well

    Dr Doyin Okupe has said he is not a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) but that he appreciates the bold reforms being implemented by President Bola Tinubu.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Okupe is a former Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council.

    Okupe, also a former Presidential Spokesperson, disclosed this in his official X (formerly Twitter) handle while reacting to criticisms over his appreciation of Tinubu’s initiatives.

    Okupe had served as aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and then Goodluck Jonathan as a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He later joined Labour Party to support the presidential  bid of Peter Obi for the 2023 elections.

    Okupe has been criticised for always  supporting, advising and praising every government in power since 1999.

    “I am neither a member of the APC nor an adviser of the administration. I appreciate the bold initiatives President Bola Tinubu took to remove fuel subsidy, which was assented to by all candidates during the campaign.

    “I also fully support the sectoral equalisation of our forex market. Both reforms are responsible for the hardship our people are currently experiencing, but which I believe will be temporary judging by the strenuous efforts the government is making towards ameliorating them.

    “This is not praise singing. I do not count myself as a member of the opposition, hence I am able to be objective and understandingly supportive.

    “I may not have had a hand in installing this govt ,but it is my country and I am a stakeholder in it. I do not pray for it to crash or go down. This cannot be an offence,” Okupe said.

    He urged his critics, especially a PDP chieftain, Mr Dele Momodu, to stop being  personal in their criticisms.

    “We all are practitioners, players and known actors in this amphitheater, no need to go personal. Let’s keep criticisms rational, mature and professional,” he added.

    Okupe said that it was not true that he had been sing praising every government since 1999.

    He said that he only acted as adviser in the Obasanjo’s administration, which he described as one of the most successful since the advent of the fourth republic.

    Okupe said that he did not play any significant role in the succeeding administration of late President Umaru Yar Adua.

    The former presidential spokesman said that he ,however, became an adviser for the second time in the Jonathan administration ,which was defeated by the former President Muhammadu Buhari -led APC.

    According to Okupe, his association with former Senate President Bukola Saraki and Peter Obi is in no way different from Momodu’s current association with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

  • Doyin Okupe reacts as Peter Obi shun Soyinka’s 90th birthday

    Doyin Okupe reacts as Peter Obi shun Soyinka’s 90th birthday

     Former Labour Party, LP, presidential spokesperson Doyin Okupe has taken to social media to share some vital elementarys in politics.

    TheNewsGuru.com(TNG) reports that Okupe made this post while referencing the visit of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi to Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka last year.

    According to Okupe, there are no permanent friends and enemies, only permanent interests.

    Okupe’s remark comes after the LP candidate and former governor of Anambra state failed to celebrate Soyinka on his 90th birthday.

    In the post via his X handle, Okupe wrote,

    “POLITICS 101: In this game, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.

    “POLITICS 102: If a friend was disagreeable yesterday but can still serve yr interest tomorrow, he remains a friend.

    “POLITICS 103: In this game of politics, there is no room for rabid passion, fanaticm, insults and abuses. Caution, restraint, courtesy, diplomacy, temperance, and tolerance are always profitable to employ.

    “POLITICS 104: Repeated failures, jeopardy of interest, pain, shame and ignominy are the consequences of not adhering to the above 3 established tenets of politics.

    “IF U KNOW U KNOW. IF U DONT, THEN PREPARE TO LEARN.”

  • How to end Rivers political crisis – Okupe

    How to end Rivers political crisis – Okupe

    A former Presidential Spokesperson, Dr Doyin Okupe, has described the leadership  crisis in Rivers as a “total misfortune”, saying the problem requires a political solution.

    Okupe, a former Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council  said this in an interview on Sunday in Lagos State.

    Rivers has been engulfed in a political crisis over a power tussle between Gov. Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Mr Nyesom Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The rift has polarised the State House of Assembly with lawmakers loyal to both political gladiators electing different Speakers to lead the House.

    Lawmakers loyal to Wike recently dumped the ruling PDP to join APC, while a couple of commissioners loyal to the minister have quit Fubara’s cabinet.

    A State High Court in Port Harcourt had in May  barred the lawmakers from parading themselves  as members of state’s House of Assembly after their defection to APC.

    The order followed a suit filed by Mr Victor Jumbo,a factional Speaker and two other lawmakers ,loyal to Gov.Fubara.

    The court held that all of the laws made by Mr Martin Awaewhule ,the other factional Speaker, and  the 24 other lawmakers loyal to Wike would amount to a nullity until the matter was determined.

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, however, on Thursday vacated the order that sacked 25 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who defected to APC.

    The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel of Justices, held that the Rivers State High Court, which issued the order, lacked the requisite jurisdiction to do

    Reacting, Okupe said the crisis in the state was caused by disregard for rules and laws.

    According to him ,while the judiciary can help to put things right ,the best way to end the festering crisis is to proffer a  political solution.

    “That is a total misfortune, and the real issue, if we look at it properly, is that we do not obey our laws. if only we obey our laws, this situation cannot surface at all.

    “The courts have to help, the judiciary must be consistent, fair and judge according to law not any other sentiment

    “Let us all obey our laws and our rules and let the court adjudicate according to theb law and anybody who flouts the law should pay for it.

    “The way things are going in Rivers  right now  is dangerous, but a political solution is what I will suggest, as a very experienced politician,”he said.

    Emphasising the need for a political solution ,Okupe said politics is about interest and that the crisis would end if the interests of the disagreeing parties are discussed and reconciled.

    He said: “In all my years of politics, I have never seen anything in this world that a political solution cannot resolve in all political disagreements.

    “Politics is about interest- What is the interest of A and what is the interest of B and how can we marry them? That’s is all,” he said.

  • Use sacks to grow tomatoes — Doyin Okupe advises Nigerians complaining about cost of tomatoes

    Use sacks to grow tomatoes — Doyin Okupe advises Nigerians complaining about cost of tomatoes

    A former presidential spokesperson of the Labour Party, Doyin Okupe has advised Nigerians complaining about the cost of tomatoes on what to do.

    TheNewsGuru.Com reports that the skyrocketing prices of vegetables have sparked concerns amongst Nigerians, as many find it challenging to consume it.

    Reacting to the public concerns, Okupe via the microblogging platform X formerly Twitter advised Nigerians to grow a tomatoes at home, adding that it was easy and inexpensive.

    He wrote: “A medium size basket of tomatoes (Containing between 60 to 80 fruit) cost about N45k in the market today. Use sacks to grow Tomatoes at home, easy and inexpensive.”

    Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, recently disclosed that the hike in the price of tomatoes is due to an infestation known as Tomato Ebola, which reduced its availability.

    Kyari added that the ministry has outlined plans to combat the issue, which include deploying agricultural experts to affected areas to control and eliminate the infestation and support farmers with resources and guidance to recover their crops quickly.

  • Governors should not be forced to pay uniform minimum wage – Okupe

    Governors should not be forced to pay uniform minimum wage – Okupe

    Doyin Okupe a former presidential aide, has called for a review of the national minimum wage Act which mandates governors of all the Nigerian 36 states to pay a uniform minimum wage to the workers in their various states.

    Okupe, made this known while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Saturday said all governors should be allowed to decide on their own the amount they can pay.

    “We should not make laws that is un-encompassing that makes it compulsory for all governors in the federation to obey them. They are sub nationalities on the own.

    “I mean for instance, if you pay a minimum wage in Lagos, why should I pay that in Sokoto? Let every governor decide for his own state by his own people that this is what I can afford,” Okupe said.

    According to him,  what the President should concern himself about is the Federal Government and allow the states and the labour unions at the state level to agree on minimum wage.

    For several months, there have been a back and forth between labour and the Federal Government on what the new minimum wage should be.

    At the expiration of an ultimatum issued by labour on May 31, the unions embarked on strike on June 3, shutting down businesses across the nation.

    The action was however suspended on Tuesday after the Federal Government promised to increase the minimum wage to an amount bigger than N60,000 as they resume negotiations.

    The tripartite committee is still locked in meeting trying to agree on a new wage and is expected to make the announcement any time soon.

    Recall that the 36 state governors have said that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal by the Federal Government is not sustainable and cannot fly.

    A statement by the Acting Director, Media Affairs and Public Relations of the Forum, Mrs Halima  Ahmed, noted that if allowed to fly, many states will use all their monthly allocations from the federation account to pay workers’ salaries.

    The governors appealed to members of the tripartite committee to agree on a minimum wage that would be fair and sustainable.

  • Doyin Okupe, food is ready politician – Labour Party

    Doyin Okupe, food is ready politician – Labour Party

    Labour Party has lambasted its former Director General of Presidential Campaign Council, Doyin Okupe, describing him as a food is ready politician.

    This is coming after Okupe dumped the party, forcing a reaction from Obiora Ifoh, National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party.

    Reacting in a statement released by Ifoh, the Labour Party stated the exit of Okupe was not in any way surprising.

    Read the full statement below: “The leadership of the Labour Party like most Nigerians read in the social media the purported resignation of the former Director General of our Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Doyin Okupe from the Labour Party.

    “Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have responded but because of media attraction it has been generating since yesterday. “Needless to say, that after the general election, a few members of the party had left while many others have also joined the party. It is within the rights of any Nigerian to associate with any political parties of their choice.

    “In the letter said to have been addressed to our National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure, which is yet to be received, Okupe cited ideological conflict as the reason he left Labour Party.

    “He also addressed Labour Party pejoratively as a “Special Purpose Vehicle”.

    “This response wouldn’t have been necessary if Okupe had left quietly or perhaps claim ‘personal reasons’ for his actions but by way of him demeaning a party believed to have won majority of votes by Nigerians but was denied victory by the Nigerian system was clearly a mischief carried too far.

    “Okupe is aware that the Labour Party is ideologically rooted in the left of the center, and he admitted that he has been a rightist and a Liberal Democrat all his entire life, one wonders what he was looking for in a party that is diametrically opposed to his ideological leaning.

    “What kind of political harlotry was he exhibiting by finding no qualms in jumping from one party to another with such ease.

    “His exit from Labour Party is not in any way surprising to us. In a true character of traditional politicians who moves from place to another, he was in PDP, from PDP to APC and then Labour Party and we won’t be surprised if he goes back to his vomit and embrace either APC or PDP all over again. It is all about where food is ready.

    “Labour Party is an ideological party, it has a clear-cut ideology which supports equal opportunity and social justice. It is specifically not a place for people like Doyin Okupe.

    “Our system in Labour Party does not support political opportunists. The system will naturally expose such political characters and eject them.

    “I ask again, had Labour Party declared winner of the presidential election, will Okupe remain with the party or jump ship in adherence to his ideological leaning.

    “We must recall that Okupe was forced to abdicate office halfway into the campaign because of the baggage’s he came with from the other party where he served.

    “The courts whipped him into early political menopause, so he really didn’t contribute much into the Labour Party’s success in the 2023 electoral voyage, however we are glad he acknowledged that we offered him shelter.

    “Finally, the leadership of the Labour Party wishes him well in his future political adventure. We will however remain positive that a new Nigeria is still possible”.