'I STILL INSIST THAT BUHARI HAS NO WASCE CERTIFICATE' - DOYIN OKUPE

The presidential aide shared this on his Facebook page. Read below...
These are very interesting times in our nation. An election has come and gone. A victor has emerged and the loser has conceded. Yet some of our folks are behaving as if we have just gone through a war between two hostile nations. Apc agents all over the place are unrelenting in their tirades of abuses, insults and lies against President Jonathan, his aides and supporters.
It is shameful that we are still saddled with denying falsehood & fabrications in the social media and even hither to highly respected Newspapers. Missing $20b found in an account in zenith. PGEJ returns tons of dollars to federation accounts. N2trillion spent on elections by PGEJ. Okupe says chibok girls will not be found.

CHIBOK SCHOOLGIRLS WERE KIDNAPPED TO PRESENT JONATHAN AS INCOMPETENT, SAYS OKUPE

Doyin Okupe, the senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, says one of the reasons more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped in Chibok, Borno state, last year was to present the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan as incompetent. In a message posted on his personal Facebook and Twitter timelines on Saturday, Okupe also alleged that the#BringBackOurGirls group was formed in order to “sustain and internationalise” the agenda of incompetency against the outgoing administration. “One of the reasons the Chibok girls were kidnapped was to present Jonathan’s administration as incompetent and hold it to ransom against 2015 elections,” he said.

OKUPE BREAKS SILENCE ON BUHARI’S VICTORY, SAYS PDP WILL RETURN TO POWER SOON

Doyin Okupe, the senior special assistant on public affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, has congratulated President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, and his party, the All Progressives Congress, over their victory in Saturday’s presidential election.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Mr. Okupe said Mr. Buhari’s victory is the will of God.
He also said his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, would return to power soon.
Read Mr. Okupe’s statement below.
“It has pleased the Almighty God to give victory to General Muhammedu Buhari, the Presidential candidate of the APC and the President elect.
“We accept this as the Will of God and I personally congratulate the General for his success.

THE YORUBAS: OUR POLITICS, YESTERDAY AND TODAY

By Doyin Okupe
The Yoruba in national politics

THE Political era of the second Republic 1979-1983 saw the Yoruba playing a role which was not too different from the one played in the first republic. The only difference was that unlike in the first republic when the role of opposition was officially recognized in line with the Parliamentary System of government, the Presidential system created no specific role for the party outside government.

Even though the Unity Party of Nigeria, formed by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the first party to be formed after the Military lifted the ban on party politics in 1978, the party was generally regarded as an off shoot of the Action Group which was the main Yoruba party of the First Republic.

WHAT GOES ON FACEBOOK IS POLITICAL MASTURBATION - OKUPE

Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, earlier today took to his Facebook page where he described the activities going on in the social media concerning the 2015 elections, as “political masturbation”.
Dr Okupe said; “People talk on facebook and twitter as if the elections will be decided here. What goes on here is nothing but political masturbation. The actual voting takes place in the real world.
There are about 13m and 4.5m Nigerians on facebook and Twitter respectively. On the average because of multiple presence we can assume a number of 15m. 50% or 7.5m are not registered. Out of the remaining 7.5m another 50% will not vote. So we are looking at about a max of 3.75m voters from these platforms. 

DOYIN OKUPE REACTS TO GEN BUHARI WITHDRAWAL FROM BON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

COMPARING JONATHAN WITH JESUS, NOT BLASPHEMOUS – OKUPE

The Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has rejected criticisms saying that he committed an act of blasphemy by comparing his principal with Jesus Christ.
Okupe, who visited the Corporate Headquarters of PUNCH Nigeria Limited on Thursday, said that Christ Himself advised His followers to be like Him and even urged them to do greater things. According to him, there was nothing wrong with what he said.
“The whole thing was just blown out of proportion. Comparing Jonathan with Jesus Christ is not blasphemous, because even Christ said we must be like Him and that we should even do greater things than Him. It is there in the Holy Bible, not from me,” he said.
Okupe’s latest position followed criticisms from a large section of Nigerians who pounced on him for comparing Jonathan with Jesus during a programme on Channels Television earlier on Monday. While some described him as a joker, others simply called for his head.
But he said he had been quoted out of context.

2015: LOCAL, FOREIGN INTERESTS PRESSURING JONATHAN TO RUN-OKUPE

The Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe has said the declaration of intention by Buhari and Atiku to contest the 2015 elections posed no threat to the Presidency.
He said this while addressing State House journalists today in Abuja today hours after Gen. Buhari made a formal declaration to contest for the APC presidential ticket.
He said the president had been under intense pressure from ordinary Nigerians as well as local and foreign interest groups to seek a second term in office.

Okupe said Jonathan would be contesting the 2015 elections with "serial losers" who, according to him, lack leadership qualities and have nothing new to tell Nigerians.

2015: JONATHAN NEED NOT REMOVE ANY APC GOV TO WIN —OKUPE

Dr Doyin Okupe is the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs. In this interview speaks on the Chibok girls abduction saga, the removal and threat of removal of some governors, among other issues. Excerpts:
You served in the Olusegun Obasanjo’s government and you are now in Jonathan’s. What are you looking for?
Working for President Jonathan was not a straight affair. There were national issues that predated it. I took sides in the succession of the late president Umar Yar’adua matter, like my usual self. I was vociferous, made my position public as the matter raged on; I continued to defend without having met him. The hostility continued even after he was sworn in. I have a natural passion for defending what I consider true and just. I met him after about a year by happenstance. Subsequently, I got a call from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, and when I went to see him, he told me the president would like me to work with him and that was it.

APC, PARTY OF ANARCHISTS, ETHNIC CHAMPIONS - PRESIDENCY

SENIOR Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, on Sunday, labelled the newly registered All Progressives Congress (APC) as a party of anti-progressive anarchists and irredentists, whose thirst for power is purely based on ethnic sentiments.

Okupe, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, said right from the time the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration came on board, chieftains of APC had tried everything to frustrate and make it impossible for the president to govern.

The statement observed that APC supporters were united in their peculiar hatred for President Jonathan, a reason his election was greeted by post-election crisis, culminating in the present Boko Haram challenge in the North.

OKUPE: OPPOSITION WILL BE GONE BY 2014

Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, recently paid a courtesy visit to THISDAY Newspapers, where he addressed some issues in the country. Excerpts:

Let’s look at the problems confronting the power sector. What really are the challenges?
When I was not in this administration, I found it difficult to understand that things were not as good as one would have expected it, even at the time of the Yar' Adua /Jonathan came on board. When we started with Obasanjo, there was a lot of movement but somehow, effect was lost and there was a slowing down which affected achievement. For instance, this power situation, we would not have been at this place if Yar'Adua's administration did not totally destroy what was put in place.

The genesis of the problem of the NIPP project was the amount of money that was required to push that investment. Power is expensive and I think about USD 12billion or so was spent and all we are getting from all of them when they are fully functional is about 5000 megawatts. Now this type of money is not the type of money that entrepreneurs in Nigeria can aggregate and it is not unusual; this was like a sovereign wealth fund because it was money belonging to Federal, state and local government and really, this was the development model that was used elsewhere in Japan.

WINDING DOWN OF ACN: TINUBU, OTHERS HAVE COMMITTED POLITICAL SUICIDE - PRESIDENCY

FOR officially winding down the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the presidency, on Tuesday, called the act a political suicide on the part of the leaders and chieftains of the defunct party.

It said the Yoruba of the South West would not identify with the All Progressives Congress (APC), which the ACN dissolved into, because the only attachment with the party by the people of the region was its identity as a regional party.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, told the Nigerian Tribune that it was certain the Yoruba would not vote a platform with General Muhammadu Buhari as presidential standard-bearer.

BUHARI, TINUBU POLITICAL LIABILITIES – JONATHAN

LAGOS -  President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday reacted to criticism of his government by opposition leaders during the national convention of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, last week in Lagos, dismissing them as people who do not have what it takes to move the nation forward.

The president who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, at a press conference in Lagos condemned the ‘penchant’ of opposition leaders to denigrate the government and the nation, and assured that the government will not be distracted by their ‘empty’ criticisms in its unrelenting drive to transform the nation’s social, economic and political landscape.

PRESIDENCY BERATES PROMOTERS OF AMNESTY FOR BOKO HARAM

The Presidency on Monday hit back at the proponents of amnesty for the Boko Haram sect, saying they were politicising the issue.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, made this known in a statement in Abuja.

President Goodluck Jonathan had,  during a visit to Yobe State a few weeks ago, said the Federal Government could not grant amnesty to the militant Islamic sect.

He had said, “We cannot declare amnesty for Boko Haram because we cannot declare amnesty for ghosts. You cannot liken Boko Haram to what happened in the Niger Delta.”

Before the President made the statement, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III, had urged the Federal Government to grant Boko Haram total amnesty.

WHY ALAMIEYESEIGHA, OTHERS’ PARDON CANNOT BE QUESTIONED – OKUPE

From the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs came an advice: It is disrespectful to query Tuesday’s pardon granted the disgraced former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepriye Alamieyeseigha and seven others.

Confirming the presidential pardon at Tuesday’s Council of State meeting, Okupe said though the decision might not sit well with some Nigerians, there is no reason to whip up needless sentiments over a decision reached at the highest level of governance in the country and in accordance with the country’s Constitution.

The presidential aide, who spoke earlier Wednesday on a live programme, Sunrise Daily on Channels Television, wondered why Nigerian have taken to the social media critiquing the listing of Alamieyeseigha as one of the beneficiaries of the presidential pardon.

NO INDICES OF FAILING STATE IN NIGERIA – PRESIDENCY

Senior Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe on Monday described the comments by elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze that Nigeria is sliding into a failed state as a gross act of irresponsible and demonstration of lack of patriotism, arguing that available facts and figures do not suggest anything of such.

He said those describing Nigeria as a failed state or that it is nearing this are wishing and dreaming evil for the country, adding that this would not come to pass

Also, Osaro Onaiwu, the Special Adviser on governors and governance to the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has described as unpatriotic, the recent statements credited to some eminent Nigerians that Nigeria is becoming a failing state.

FOREIGN RESERVES: EZEKWESILI LIED SHAMELESSLY – PRESIDENCY

…Says govt ‘ll not engage her in any public debate
THE Presidency has again taken a swipe at former Vice President, World Bank, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, accusing her of inciting Nigerians against the Federal Government, just as it stressed that her allegations were almost stupid and senseless.

Addressing newsmen yesterday, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, noted that the former Minister of Education lied shamelessly by raising false alarm on what she would have buttressed with figures, especially against the backdrop of where she was coming from as an officer of the World Bank.

Okupe who said that it was not true that the money was squandered as alleged, stressed that the Federal Government was not run by proceeds from the external reserves, but what the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, remits to the government and that which is shared among the three tiers of government.