By Olu Victor
Controversial entertainer, Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy has denied media reports that he snatched microphone from Governor Rochas Okorocha, during his (Charly Boy) father’s funeral in Oguta, Imo State last Friday.
Charly Boy, son of the late Justice Oputa, and a former president of Performing Musicians Organisation of Nigeria (PMAN), however owned-up to the fact that he deliberately refused to allow the governor to speak at the event, because he did not want the church service to be turned into a platform for political campaign.
He said the governor, like most politicians, is not a man of few words, and that he detest a long church session.
“You know I don’t attend church, because church activities usually take long. I know that once he begins to talk, every other person would also want to talk. So, I insisted only one person should speak, which was the person representing the president. That is why they are calling me as a supporter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).”
The Imo State Government had decried the situation, saying that Charly Boy “acted out an ill-motivated script drafted by some politicians from the state, based in Abuja who have sworn to disturb the peace of their state (Imo), and invariably the peace of the good people and government of the State.”
A statement by Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, said it was unfortunate that Charly Boy “insisted that his home governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha would not talk as protocol and common sense had demanded.”
According to Onwuemeodo, the mutual relationship between the governor and Charly merely took a dramatic turn, when a member of the House of Representatives went to Charly Boy, claiming that “Mr. President directed that Governor Okorocha should not be allowed to talk at the church service,” adding that he was certain the people only used the name of the president, only for Charly Boy to fall for the antic.
He said recent events in the state have scored the governor as a very popular politician, and that has become a threat to some governorship aspirants in the state.
But Charly Boy said his action was not politically-motivated. “I don’t belong to any political party and I will never, because the way politics is practiced in Nigeria is obnoxious. I see it as one big treachery against the masses. The people are suffering, yet the politicians parade their ill-gotten wealth around. My stay in the village this period has opened my eyes to the suffering of the people. You need to know the level of poverty in my place. And I’m sure it is like that everywhere. I don’t belong to any political party.”
Angry that the Imo State government made public its donation of N25 million in support of the funeral, Charly Boy said: “They gave us small money, and put it in the newspapers, announcing it to the whole world. Were they the only one that gave us money? After all, Rivers State also gave us money, but did you hear the announcement anywhere?”
He said about N7.8 million was spent each day, for three days on equipment that was transported from Lagos for the event, which had gulped the N25 million donated by the Imo State government.
Charly Boy who claimed he is a cultured person however, said he has the right to decide how his father’s funeral was to run, and that it was only proper for the governor to respect the wish of his family. He noted that the priest (Father Matthew Kukah), who was closed to his late father, had no problem with his reaction, because the man knows how he feels with politicians.