Doyin Okupe, a former Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign, has praised President Bola Tinubu as the most prepared leader Nigeria has had since independence in 1960.
Speaking in an interview with Vanguard, Okupe dismissed critics who question his support for Tinubu, asserting that his stance is rooted in principle rather than personal gain.
“Those who see what I’m doing with Bola Tinubu today and thinking that it was for personal gain, I told you, they can only be young people who do not know. They don’t know the history; they don’t know what my pedigree is. I am a man that supports what I consider to be fair and just even if it is to my detriment,” he said.
Okupe recounted his longstanding acquaintance with Tinubu, dating back to their NADECO days, emphasizing their shared history despite being on opposite sides politically.
“I met the president, Tinubu, about a week ago. I had not seen him for seven or eight years. I had not spoken to him on the phone. He didn’t talk to me.
“But he’s somebody I know very well politically. We have never been on the same side before in politics but we’ve always shared a relationship since our NADECO days.
“From that time, till when he was governor and left as governor, I’ve had opportunities to sit with Bola Tinubu for hours unending. And he has impressed me, not only as a politician, but as a technocrat, a man capable of deep thinking. He has developmental ideologies and policies at his fingertips. This thing, you don’t learn it. It’s a gift,” Okupe stated.
He likened Tinubu’s leadership qualities to those of the late Obafemi Awolowo, describing both as reformers with a focus on public welfare.
Okupe dismissed claims that Tinubu assumed office without a plan as “nonsense,” asserting that no Nigerian president has been better prepared for governance.
“The last time we had anybody close to him (Tinubu) was Awolowo (Obafemi). Awolowo was a very serious-minded politician, but who had ideas of public policies that would benefit the masses. That is what Bola Tinubu is today.
“Bola Tinubu, you know, in the Villa, we have a reformer, a president who is a reformer. I’ve heard some people saying that Bola Tinubu came to the office without a plan, he has no clue, that is balderdash, that is nonsense.
“I have worked with two past presidents. I have studied other presidents closely from a very close point. I don’t know any Nigerian president from 1960 to date who has come better prepared for governance than this gentleman,” Okupe concluded.