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Tag: Okupe

  • PDP and APC are expired parties – Okupe

    PDP and APC are expired parties – Okupe

    A former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said on Thursday the Accord Party is Nigeria’s only hope for political development.

    He stated this In Ibadan, Oyo State, while addressing the party’s delegates at the 2017 South West stakeholders’ summit held at the Olubadan Stadium complex, NTC Road, Iyaganku, Ibadan.

    The meeting attracted party’s delegates from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States.

    Also, a former member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Bukola Ajaja, was publicly presented with the party flag as the new leader of the party in Oyo State by the South West zonal chairman, Mr. Kayode Ojo.

    Okupe, who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Accord Party, said the current two dominant parties in the country – All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP have failed to deliver democratic dividends to the citizens, and as such leaving Accord Party as the best alternative for the people.

    He said: “the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress are big trucks which old age and misuse has affected their relevance. Today, the PDP and APC have expired as a party. PDP as an automobile has spoilt its back aisle while APC crank shaft has broken.

    “Accord is the only hope for political development in Nigeria. This party is for Nigerian youths to achieve their lofty dreams and ambition of managing their own affairs in this country. I am old and not interested in any office again. Nigerian youths can be whatever they want to be in Accord.

    “You don’t need the so much touted experience, myself and some elders here will teach you on the job to master it. Youths cannot be allowed to flourish in either PDP or APC but we’ll provide the necessary platform to excel and teach you all in Accord. We’ll teach you how it is done in an ethical manner; not how to kill, steal or corrupt the system. Accord is the best platform to realise your dream. This party is preparing the solid platform for the youths evenly.”

     

  • Okupe in a season of barrenness

    Hardball has determined that Nigerian politicians get broke too quickly, too easily. Many political juggernauts of the first and Second Republics if they are alive and in good health today are barely comfortable, if not living in penury. And it doesn’t matter whether he or she was a president, governor, senator or minister.

    This singular factor may explain why politicians of today have added a touch of dare-devilry when they ‘attack’ the treasury these days; they go for the jugular (our jugular, if you like); they assault the treasury without remorse or compunction, making to heave it all.  But because they can’t, they loot as much as they can, taking billions and more billions.

    But even then, because bandits don’t create, nor are they positively creative, they tend to run out of ideas (and means) quickly enough. Just the way a fool and his money are soon separated, a thief’s booty soon grows wings due to wretched lifestyles and again, because poor work culture.

    But by no means do we suggest that our subject for today would make away with a hot stove; not by any chance. Except that he recently started a discourse on barrenness. Who does not know Dr. Doyin Okupe? The celebrated public hound dog who was so good he was sought out by two presidents. How better can anyone get?

    Okupe was pressed to service by ex – President Olusegun Obasanjo to bark and snap at his public enemies – a job he performed creditably well even though his stay in Aso Rock the first time was short lived (for reasons unwholesome to recap here) but while he played bingo, he set new standards on the job.

    This explains why another ex – president, Goodluck Jonathan, when he came under intense heat from opposition elements and his genteel spokesperson could not beat them back, Okupe popped up again.  The hot dog was drafted to give PDP opponents hell. Of course, he lived up to the task. Not even his former paymaster, Obasanjo was spared Okupe’s vitriol.

    But that was in the past. Today, Okupe seems to stand forlornly in some halfway house in this season of barrenness, waiting for the train. He announced most gleefully recently that he has quit his party and honey pot, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). But Hardball was drawn to what would have been a non-issue by Okupe’s assertion that PDP is barren.

    Now how could that be? When did that happen? Since it lost election and was shoved off the national treasury in 2015? And this barrenness thing: is it about PDP, the season or Okupe’s emptiness? Though Okupe has not joined the APC, Hardball can virtually see him at the station, waiting for the APC gravy train to come by.

  • $2.1b arms scandal: EFCC interrogates Okupe over N162m ‘illicit payment’

    $2.1b arms scandal: EFCC interrogates Okupe over N162m ‘illicit payment’

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday confirmed a fresh grilling of Dr. Doyin Okupe, who was a former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Okupe was questioned over alleged N162million illicit payments to him and his companies by a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), and Chanchaga Local Government in Niger State.

    But the former presidential spokesman pleaded with the EFCC not to detain him because he has a heart problem.

    Although the anti-graft agency admitted Okupe to bail on compassionate ground, he was mandated to be reporting at intervals.

    According to a top source, Okupe had been reporting to the anti-graft agency after he was initially interrogated on June 22, 2016.

    The source said: “He has been coming to the EFCC over fresh allegations bordering on illicit payments received from the Office of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, as well as strange payments to his companies by a council in Niger State.

    “He was quizzed over N50million which he collected in cash from the former NSA without record or accountability.

    “We also got evidence that a company that is owned by him, Romic Soil Fix International Limited, received N63million from Chanchaga Local Government  of Niger State and another N13.5m from the same council, for reasons that are not stated.

    “Another company that is linked to Okupe, Abraham Telecoms Limited, allegedly received N35.5million from the NSA through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    “The payments from the Chanchaga Local Government to Romic were made on  November 21, 2014 during the PDP primary election and February 13, 2015, just before the general election.

    “He has not been able to explain the receipts and has been asked to be reporting at intervals.

    “The reason he is not detained is because he claimed to have a heart condition and presented a medical report to back the claim”.

    But  Dasuki had last week said he was ready for trial in connection with the $2.1billion arms deals.

    He insisted that he disbursed all the funds credited to the ONSA based on the directive of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

    He said:  “Based on the service rules in the security circle, I owe it a duty to obey the President and Commander-in-Chief. Ex-President Jonathan approved all the expenses incurred by the ONSA.

    “I am ready to prove in court how we complied with the directive of the ex-President.”

  • Jonathan approved payment of N400m to Metuh – Okupe

    Jonathan approved payment of N400m to Metuh – Okupe

    A former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to ex- President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said on Wednesday that the ex-president approved the payment of N400 million to Olisa Metuh.

    Okupe stated this while testifying in the trial of Metuh before a Federal High Court in Abuja.

    Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is standing trial for allegedly receiving N400 million from Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

    The prosecution claimed that the fund was collected through the defendant’s company Destra Investment Limited.

    However, the defence witness said the approval of Metuh’s proposal and immediate payment of the project fund was given by the former president in November 2014.

    “Sometime in November 2014, some members of the cabinet and party members were called for a crucial meeting with the President where issues of great national importance were discussed.

    “I remember vividly that on that fateful day, Chief Metuh presented a proposal to the President immediately after the meeting.

    “The President also gave approval for the payment of N400 million to Metuh,’’ Okupe said.

    Okupe added that the money was to be used for enhancement of Jonathan’s negative public perception before the 2015 general election.

    He said as the leader of the PDP and its presidential candidate, the ex- President enjoyed tremendous goodwill, saying that several actions were to support the PDP.

    According to Okupe, such goodwill was demonstrated at the fund raising ceremony organised at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, before the election, in which about N21 billion was raked in.

    “I am therefore surprised to hear that the Office of the National Security Adviser was used to distribute money for Jonathan’s presidential campaign.

    “However, the President could also use his tremendous goodwill to source funds to assist his party or help to execute special programmes.

    “Besides, as the candidate for election, the President has immense capacity to raise funds as a candidate. He did not use any government establishment as his pseudo-sponsor,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the former presidential aide as saying at the hearing.

  • Okupe: Dasuki paid monthly for the running of my office

    A former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has revealed that his office was funded monthly by the office of the embattled former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).

    Okupe served under Jonathan from 2012 to 2015. He said this on his official Twitter handle.

    “I was not paid arms deal money.NSA paid for the  running of my office monthly from Aug 2012.Dasuki gate was in 2014.I Did not take part in campaign,” he said.

     

  • Okupe seeks sack of workers

    Okupe seeks sack of workers

    •’Stop bailouts to governors’

    A publicity aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has urged states to lay off workers.

    In a statement in Abuja yesterday, the former presidential aide said unless a miracle happens, many states would be unable to meet up with their financial obligations.

    He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop giving financial bailouts to governors.

    According to Okupe, having forced Jonathan to share the  Excess Crude Account, there should be no moral basis for the governors to beg Buhari for bailouts.

    The statement said: “Governors in Nigeria have approached  President Buhari for financial assistance to meet up with their obligations, especially the payment of workers. They came with caps in hand and received assistance on two occasions.

    “It will be recalled that governors forced former President Jonathan to share and deplete the Excess Crude Account.

    “It is clear and more certain that unless a miracle happens, many states will be unable to meet up with their financial obligations and may actually face imminent bankruptcy if the economY worsens”.

    Okupe acknowledged that economies of nations do go into recessions at different times in history, more often not necessarily as a result of incompetence or lack of managerial capabilities.

    “We do not need a soothsayer or an economic guru to foretell that this is unsustainable. In many states, the percentage of resources of the state consumed by the civil service ranges from  70 to 80 per cent by not more than 10 per cent of its population.

    “A basic economic dictum says if expenditure cannot be controlled, internal demands must be curtailed. Without doubt, states must downsizing their workforce  with reasonable cushions for those to be affected,”he stated.

  • I didn’t claim leadership of South West PDP, Kashamu replies Okupe

    I didn’t claim leadership of South West PDP, Kashamu replies Okupe

    Senator representing Ogun East senatorial zone in the National Assembly, Prince Buruji Kashamu, has refuted reports of his purported declaration as the leader of South West zone of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    A former presidential spokesman, Dr. Doyin Okupe, was widely reported on Friday to have described the declaration of Kashamu as leader of South West PDP as the “joke of the year.”

    In a statement issued yesterday, Kashamu said:” My attention has been drawn to various reports and accounts about yesterday’s visit of a delegation of leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West to the National Working Committee (NWC) of our great party, and it has become imperative of me to make a few clarifications.

    “The first is that the visit was not done to choose or pronounce anyone as the leader of the PDP in the South West. Rather, it was to pledge our support for the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led NWC. All that happened on the occasion was fortuitous. It is also true that people like to have a rallying point, and if some of our leaders and elders see me as a rallying point because of my generosity and empowerment activities over the years, I do not see why anyone should lose sleep over it.

    “Leaders emerge naturally; I also know that leadership comes with responsibility and I accept the responsibility. I appreciate all our party leaders and elders for the confidence reposed in me and will continue to appreciate them.

    I am just one of the leaders of the PDP in the South West. I do know that I have other superior leaders in the PDP Governors in the zone, Chief Olabode George, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun and other members of the National Caucus, Board of Trustees and the National Executive Committee (NEC), whom I respect and will always do.”

     

  • Hallo… Okupe’s phone still ringing?

    Reuben Abati just complained his phones had stopped ringing, after the frenetic racket of his Goodluck Jonathan years.  Would somebody, somewhere please give him a call, on compassionate grounds, to save his golden phones from manic depression?

    Ah, of course, Reuben was part of the three-some — or more conclusively, four-some — that zealously harvested foes for their principal, under the guise of building bridges.  The list?

    Himself, Reuben Abati, the pious christener of the “collective children of anger”, a rather fiery and magisterial riposte to Jonathan’s traducers, in the e-jungle of (anti?)social media.

    Doyin Okupe, the literal bull, grunting and charging, in the impeccable and immaculate Goodluck crusade.  Why, “Call me a bastard!”, he famously bawled, at the acme of his power hubris, “if APC (then a fledgling opposition coalition, later turned his principal’s electoral nemesis) lasts more than a few months” — or something to that effect.

    Well, APC, the political equivalent of the Yoruba customary Ajantala (what the English would call a genius or, at worst, a precocious child), electorally slew the PDP Goliath, with its 16 mighty years of power swagger.  And it wasn’t even two years old — until July 31!

    Olufemi Olukayode (nee Femi Fani-Kayode), the voluble and fatally persuasive scion of the one and only Remi Fani-Kayode (God bless his combative soul!), the unflinching Demo stalwart, of the Western Region electoral-heist driven crisis, that torpedoed Nigeria’s First Republic.  Fani-Kayode, the future Olukayode’s razor-sharp  tongue erected Jonathan’s final Golgotha.

    And, of course, Olisa Janjaweed Metuh, the PDP publicity generalissimo who, even in what looks like political Siberia, is still very much at his game.  Olisa’s latest Janjaweed “release” is his charge that the Buhari presidency was imposing a “communist” economic policy, for checkmating an illicit run on the Naira, via suspect dollar domiciliary accounts.  Aghast?  Just scream “Janjaweed” and take a deep breath!

    This four-some cooked the Jonathan goose.

    Even then, Doyin Okupe was in a special class of his own, in contrast to Reuben Abati.

    Cherie Blair, QC (Queen’s Counsel, equivalent of Nigeria’s SAN), spouse of Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, in her 2008 autobiography, Speaking for Myself,  spoke of two contrasting styles, of two giant advocates, doing their thing in court, during her legal pupillage years at London’s Lincoln Inn.  Derry Irvine, her boss and later a QC, she recalled, was “an attacking rhinoceros”.  But his match, Tom Bingham, QC, “was like a snake, smooth, charming, almost hypnotic”.

    Save a few details and, of course, making for local adaptation, Okupe, with his in-your-face brashness and block-buster aggression, could well have been the Cherie rhinoceros in the Jonathan power jungle, in which he brooked no paddy.  Abati, was quite the opposite — “like a snake, smooth, charming, almost hypnotic” — except for the few occasions (witness his “collective children of rage” comment) when, as the Americans would say, he really blew his tops!

    Well, Abati’s phones have stopped ringing.  So, has Okupe’s too stopped jangling?

    Okupe, the ebullient Remo prince and medic-turned-government-publicist, is a veteran of many controversial causes.  Before June 12, he championed the anti-MKO cause; and his grand but doomed strategy was to plumb MKO in the mud, as he felt Bashir Tofa was comparatively such an overall Lilliputian he couldn’t levitate in MKO’s stratosphere. That strategy resurrected in the Jonathan campaign.  But the result was the same, just as it was for Tofa: electoral doom!

    Now that the business has ended in the dust, is Okupe’s phone still ringing, in contrast to Abati’s?

    Hallo! Hardball is commissioning a crack investigation unit.  Please apply!

  • Jonathan lost to evil conspiracies, says Okupe

    President Goodluck Jonathan lost his re-election to “evil conspiracies within and outside the country”, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has alleged.

    “Jonathan fought against evil conspiracies both locally and internationally in his bid to deliver good governance, but was unfortunately misunderstood by many Nigerians, who mistook his good nature and intentions for weakness”, Okupe said in a statement yesterday.

    He, however, stated that the President is leaving office as a fulfilled man who was “excellent in achievement, humility, tranquility and simplicity”.

    Okupe posted the message on his Facebook account, after a thanksgiving service held for President Jonathan at the State House chapel yesterday.

    “Nigerians mistook meekness for weakness, restraint for lack of strength, reticence for inaction, calmness for indecisiveness”, the President’s aide stated. He described the thanksgiving service as emotional for him and other friends of the President, who attended the event.

    According to him, despite losing the election, Jonathan remains “the greatest President Nigeria ever had” and that he “triumphed” because of the “inherent goodness” that God has deposited in him.

    Okupe insisted that Jonathan meant what he said and stood by them, even to his own detriment and to the detriment of those who believed in him.

    He noted that though the President lost his election, he triumphed because of his commitment to the peace of Nigeria, which, he said, made him declare that his ambition was not worth the blood of any Nigerian.

    Dr. Okupe advised Nigerians to pray for the continuous peace and stability of the country, saying: “God will guide our incoming leaders and endow them with the competency of His wisdom to lead us aright”.

  • Okupe hails Buhari, Tinubu for ‘historic success’

    Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has congratulated the President -Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on his election describing it as historic success.

    In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, Okupe also congratulated All Progressives Congress ( APC) National leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who he said is his brother and friend, leaders and members of the party for their victory in the presidential election.

    He however noted that the Presidency under President Goodluck Jonathan ran a good race and fought an intense and unrelenting battle from the beginning to the end.

    ” Sometimes in the course of defending our Turf the engagements have been Knuckle- breaking and often outrightly vicious.

    “The fight and contest for power from time immemorial has always been fierce and intense, it has never been a sport for the Lilly-livered or the faint hearted.”