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I Wedded my Wife after 40 Years to Please my Mother – Charly Boy

Published

7 years ago

December 16, 2018

Eric

Nigerian showbiz maestro and rights activist, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charlyboy, has formally walked his American wife, Diane, down the aisle after 40 years of marriage.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the marriage produced three children.

Charlyboy and Diane exchanged marriage vows on Saturday evening at the Chapel of Sisters of Jesus the Redeemer Catholic Church in Gwarimpa, Abuja.

The low-key wedding was officiated by the outspoken Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Dioceses, Bishop Mathew Kukah, and had in attendance close friends and relatives of the couple, including the aged mother of Charlyboy.

The Archbishop of Abuja Catholic Diocese, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, was also in attendance among some other clergymen.

The couple exchanged the “I do” vows amidst cheers from the congregation.

They thereafter signed the marriage register.

Onaiyekan, in his exhortation, hailed the couple for staying together for over four decades.

He, however, urged them to be committed to their marriage vows by showing mutual love, understanding and respect for each other.

”I especially congratulate Charles and his wife for this Godly decision, and I pray God to keep them together.”

Charlyboy told NAN on the sidelines that he and his wife decided to wed in a church to honour his aged mother who had been ‘pleading that we do the right thing’.

He told NAN that he got married as a teenager in 1974, and secured divorced after the union produced one child.

He noted that the Catholic Church observed a strict marital doctrine.

”This is not that kind of marriage with fanfare; I am doing it to please my aged mother and meet certain demands of the society.

”She has been pleading that we do the right thing, saying this is the woman I have been living with for 40 years.

”We have been following through with the process of annulment of my last marriage, and my former wife who has since remarried cooperated very well, and then in 2017, the marriage was formally annulled.

”My mother actually got the wife for me at the age of 19 because I was a little rascally with women as a young man; she thinks it would curb my sexual excesses,” he said.

Charlyboy, who is 67 years, has nine children from different women and has 16 grandchildren.

He has, however, always regarded Diane as the mother of all his children.

(NAN)

Featured

Tinubu Nominates Oyedele As Minister of State for Finance, Moves Anite-Uzoka to Budget Ministry

Published

56 minutes ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, has announced that “President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the minister of state for finance, replacing Doris Anite-Uzoka.

“Mrs Anite-Uzoka will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration.

“President Tinubu has today conveyed the nomination of Mr Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation in a letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

“Until President Tinubu nominated him as a minister, Mr Oyedele from Ikaram, Akoko, Ondo State, was the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system.

“Mr Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.

“He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance. He attended Oxford Brookes University and earned a BSc in applied accounting.

“He also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Mr Oyedele spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

“Mr Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.”

Featured

Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

6 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.

Featured

DSS Nabs Man over Assassination Attempt on Peter Obi

Published

8 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has detained a man in connection with the recent attack and alleged assassination threats targeting Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to AIT, the shooting incident took place on February 24, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, during a political gathering attended by Obi and several figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The meeting was hosted by former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun. Gunmen reportedly opened fire at the venue, causing panic and forcing attendees to disperse for safety.

According to security sources, shortly after the attack, an individual identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to social media claiming responsibility and issuing additional threats against Obi, warning of further violence.

Intelligence officials reportedly initiated swift investigations, employing digital tracing and forensic tools that led to the arrest of the 26-year-old suspect in Rivers State. He is said to be a teacher at a private secondary school in the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to face prosecution. The agency reiterated its commitment to responding to credible threats and safeguarding lives and national interests without bias.