Calabash | 11 May 2010 02:38 CET

Okposo Denies Dating Stella Damasus

By Victoria Ige
Sammie Okposo

Sammie Okposo

Gospel act Sammie Okposo has stated, for the umpteenth time, that he is not romantically involved with singer-actress Stella Damasus.

Damasus, who's the widow of late entertainer Jaiye Aboderin, has been linked to Okposo for years, but the pair have consistently denied being involved in any way other than being colleagues and good friends.

A release by Okposo's publicist, made available to us last week says that contrary to reports that the pair were seeing 'holding hands' in Lagos on April 24, Okposo had actually attended Damasus' birthday party at The Palms Shopping Mall, in Lagos.

''Saturday April 24th, 2010 was Stella Damasus' birthday which held at Soul Lounge, a hang-out inside the Palms Shopping mall in Lagos. It was not only Sammie Okposo that was there to celebrate with the star actress. There were other guests like Charles Novia, Mandy, Yinka Davies, Uzodima Okpeche and other select guests. Contrary to misinformation that Stella and Okposo left in the same car, that is far from the truth. Sammie left the venue of the birthday party with his assistant while Stella rode in her friend's car- Francess at the time of their depature. Francess, a close associate of Stella is a former employee of Globacom and now a banker'' the statement from MME Okposo's PR company reads.

''The relationship between Sammie and Stella is on a platonic level and dates way back, as it was exhibited when she co-hosted with MC Abbey the Out Of Africa Easter Concert staged by Sammie Okposo last month. It isn't out of place for the respected gospel act to reciprocate her kind gesture with his presence on one of the days that mattered most to her – her birthday''.

Stella Damasus joined the single girls' club again, when her husband Jaiye Aboderin slumped and died on December 3, 2004. She remarried years later, to Emeka Nzeribe, taking off her Aboderin suffix and replacing it with Nzeribe.

The marriage has however, been trailed with rumours of break up in recent times.

Okposo, one of music industry's long-standing bachelors, is a ladies' man who dated Kate Henshaw for years, before the relationship packed up. Talks of his alleged on-and-off affair with Damasus has been on for years; even though he continues to deny having anything to do with the singer-actress.

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