#Charly Boy Embarrases Okorocha, Stops Him from speaking at father’s burial, snatches microphone#

A few weeks back, maverick entertainer, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy warned politicians against politicizing his father’s burial. The artiste is clearly making good his warning as he was said to have stormed out of a colloquium organized in honour of his late father by the Imo State government on Friday.

He accused Governor Rochas Okorocha of trying to use his father’s burial to score cheap political points.

While speaking with journalists, he said the government held a colloquium in honour of his late father and that despite his earlier warning that the burial should not be politicized, Governor Okorocha gathered all the members of his political party and wanted to turn the event into an APC rally.

Vanguard newspaper reports thus:

A requiem mass organised for the late Socrates of the Supreme Court, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa at his country home in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State was disrupted yesterday, when the first son of the former erudite judge, Charles Oputa, a.k.a Charley Boy prevented Governor Rochas Okorocha from paying tribute to his father.

Eye witnesses said that the mass which was conducted by the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rt Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Oguta, went on smoothly until Okorocha was permitted by the Bishop to pay his tribute to the fallen judge.

However, Chief Okorocha, was stopped midway into his speech, by Charly Boy who was visibly infuriated with Kukah for granting the governor the permission to speak. He walked up angrily to the altar and snatched the microphone from the governor, to the embarrassment of all the dignitaries present. It was a disgrace to the governor.

Among eminent Nigerians present at the church service included representative of President Goodluck Jonathan, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Governors Willie Obiano (Anambra), Theodore Orji (Abia); the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha and former governors of Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige and Mr Peter Obi respectively.

The intervention of Bishop Kukah could not assuage Charly Boy’s anger as he insisted that no politician would take advantage of his father’s burial to score “cheap political” goals. He insisted that the Governor should not speak at the event.

However, obviously embarrassed by Charly Boy’s action, the Governor and members his entourage hurriedly left the church service midway, despite entreaties from the officiating Bishop Kuka for them to stay on.

It was gathered that Charly Boy’s action followed a recent statement by Government House, Owerri, to the effect that the Oputa family was given N20 million to assist it in the burial arrangements.

Sources told Saturday Vanguard, however, that “the family never received a dime from either Okorocha or the state government, not to talk of the alleged N20 million said to have been made available to them,’’ as reported by a section of the media.