Doyin Okupe is dead.
Newsone Nigeria reports that a prominent Nigerian physician, politician, and former presidential aide, Doyin Okupe is dead.
This online news platform understands that Doyin Okupe died at the age of 72 after a long battle with cancer.
According to sources close to the family, Dr. Okupe had been critically ill in the weeks leading up to his demise. His health had reportedly deteriorated significantly, prompting concern among his loved ones and supporters.
Doyin Okupe Cause of Death Revealed:
It was gathered that Doyin Okup’s death was linked to cancer, marking the end of a long struggle with the illness.
Okupe was hospitalized in October 2023 with prostate cancer and was flown to Israel for treatment.
However, it was learned that his condition did not improve as he and his family expected.
In May 2024, during an appearance on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm, Okupe revealed his battle with cancer and he had become an ordained evangelist and plans to focus primarily on evangelism moving forward.
Okupe said, “This is the second time I’m beating cancer, the first time was 16 years ago, which was prostrate and this time it was the soft tissues of my right shoulders.
When asked about whether his weight loss was the result of surgery or personal discipline, he responded: “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.
Who is Doyin Okupe?
Doyin Okupe, born in Iperu, Ogun State, southwest Nigeria, was the son of a banker, Chief Matthew Adekoya Okupe. He went to St. Jude’s School in Lagos and Igbobi College before studying medicine at the University of Ibadan.
After becoming a doctor, he helped start the Royal Cross Medical Centre in Lagos with two colleagues and served as its Managing Director.
Okupe later went into politics, serving as the spokesperson for the National Republican Convention. He worked as a media assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo and later as a senior aide to President Goodluck Jonathan.
He became the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2022 before stepping down. He then served as the Director-General of the Labour Party’s Presidential Campaign team.
Okupe left the Labour Party in January 2024, explaining that his own political beliefs (as a “rightist and liberal democrat”) didn’t match the party’s left-leaning ideology. He described the Labour Party as a temporary vehicle he used for the 2023 presidential elections after leaving the People’s Democratic Party.
The late Okupe was found guilty of breaking money laundering laws in December 2022, by accepting over N200 million in cash from former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki. The law doesn’t allow cash payments over N5 million without going through a bank, but Okupe received multiple N10 million payments between 2012 and 2015.
The court sentenced him to two years in prison for each of 26 counts but gave him the option to pay a N500,000 fine for each count (N13 million total). Okupe paid the fine immediately and avoided jail time.
He was the husband of Aduralere Okupe and had several children, including Ditan and Bolu. In April 2020, he and his wife caught COVID-19 but later recovered.
Meanwhile, Newsone reports that Doyin Okupe was first diagnosed with prostate cancer 16 years ago and later developed sarcoma in his right shoulder.
