Former presidential spokesperson Doyin Okupe has declared he will no longer support ex-Anambra State governor Peter Obi, citing recent remarks by Obi that he found offensive to the Yoruba people. Okupe, who previously led Obi’s presidential campaign but resigned after a money laundering conviction, is now an active supporter of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Okupe took issue with Obi’s statements about the economic situation, where Obi noted, “Let us talk about what is happening today. Rice is about N100,000. We are not even sure where we are going to be. ‘It’s our turn’, ‘he is a Yoruba man’—ask the people in Ogun, here is there any place you people buy bread cheaper?”

During a Monday appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Okupe responded, “When Obi made that statement, it insulted us. I am a Yoruba man; I left everything and followed Obi. For the first time, Obasanjo left his circle of influence and deviated to support Obi.” While he emphasized he did not regret his past support, Okupe clarified, “But now I cannot do it again… If all these eminent Yoruba people supported you, why now bring us down publicly? It is wrong.”

Okupe maintained that he holds personal respect for Obi and would not attack him publicly, explaining, “I cannot hate Peter Obi; I am sentimentally attached to Peter Obi. Peter Obi was my project, and I am part and parcel of those who built Peter Obi up.” However, Okupe emphasized, “When the sensibilities of some of us are affected, especially when it becomes a zonal matter… What Peter Obi said was wrong.”

Okupe also referenced Tinubu’s famous “emilokan” slogan, explaining, “When Bola Tinubu said emilokan, he was not addressing the nation… he was addressing APC delegates in the premises of Ogun State government who were going to APC convention that they should vote for him.”