'She's not on my level' -Stephanie Okereke's ex-hubby speaks

By Olamide Jasanya

Former Super Eagles player and actress Stephanie Okereke‘s ex, Chikelue Iloanusi has spoken out about his relationship with the newly married star.

In an interview with entertainment reporter, Nonye Ben Nwankwo, Iloanusi disclosed the events that led to their break-up.

According to him, Stephanie sued him for N100m on the grounds that he was married to another woman in America, to which he replied, ‘If I had been married to another woman and she had the documents to prove it, nobody would talk about the court striking the case out. What she should be suing me for would have been bigamy. Nobody has charged me for bigamy. If I was charged with that, I would have defended myself and provided every document to show the real state of things. Everybody in Nigeria knows that when you have two marriages, you will be charged with bigamy.‘

He also denied that she was the main breadwinner during their marriage.

Iloanusi wished her the best in her new marriage, but criticized the public nature of her wedding, saying ‘Even if she wants to remarry, does she have to tell the general public about it? Nobody is stopping her. Everything about life is about upbringing and orientation, but I wish her the best of luck. I’m not competing with her. She no longer exists in my life. I hope she doesn’t come out of this marriage again and start going to newspapers saying the man did this or that to her. I don’t want anybody to break her heart‘.

As regards why he has been silent on the matter for so long, he said he didn’t want to discuss his life on the pages of newspapers, adding that ‘I’ve moved on very well and very fast. I have parted ways with her. I don’t have anything to do with her and I’ll never have anything to do with her. I’ll not wish her bad luck. She is not news to me…My fans should ignore her and whatever she says about me. It is not as if I cannot respond to everything she has been saying about me in the newspapers, it is just that she is not in my class‘.

The player denied reports he was jealous of his former wife, saying;

‘Why should I be jealous of her? She is in the past. I’ve moved on with my own life. There is absolutely no reason for me to be jealous…If you ask me, I will tell you she doesn’t exist in my life. We’re not on the same level… Some people phoned me to say she would wed in Paris, but I don’t care. She can go and marry in heaven‘.

Iloanusi, who says his career is ‘fantastic’, is currently the national vice-president of the National Association of Nigerian Footballers. Of this he says ‘our football is having problems, but it is all good‘.

The duo’s marriage was annulled earlier in the year, after over five years in court. A few months later, on Saturday, April 21, 2012, Okereke married her friend and business partner, Linus Idahosa, in Paris, in a star studded, multi-million naira wedding.