Delta State Senator Ned Nwoko on Thursday firmly denied allegations that he married Nollywood actress Regina Daniels when she was 17, insisting she was 21 at the time of their 2019 union and presenting her voter card as proof amid an escalating public spat fuelled by her recent accusations of coercion and isolation.
In a statement posted on social media, Nwoko, 63, addressed what he called “false claims” circulated by Daniels, 25, during their ongoing separation, urging the public to scrutinise her assertions given her “current mental condition” tied to an abandoned rehabilitation for drug addiction.
“For clarity, during my first meeting with Regina, I asked her age, and she told me she was 21 years old. I further asked if she had any document to support this, and she presented her INEC voter’s card, which clearly shows that she was born on October 10th, 1998,” Nwoko wrote, adding he has retained the document since.
He referenced a BBC interview with Daniels’ mother post-marriage confirming her age, stating: “According to all verifiable records, our marriage took place six years ago, which means Regina is 27 years old today. Any suggestion that I married her at 17 is false and should not be accepted by the public.”
Nwoko concluded: “The facts are verifiable and indisputable. Until this is done, I urge the public to approach all her claims with caution and discernment especially taking into account her current mental condition having started and abandoned her rehabilitation from illegal drug addiction.”
The denial counters activist Omoyele Sowore’s recent post alleging Daniels was born in 2001 and married at 17, with Nwoko obtaining a “fake” voter card to conceal it — claims that have gone viral amid the couple’s feud.
Public records and media reports vary on Daniels’ birth year, with Wikipedia and Famous Birthdays listing October 10, 2000, making her 18 at the May 2019 wedding, while a 2019 BBC Pidgin interview with her mother, Rita Daniels, defended the union by noting Regina’s maturity: “Even at 20yrs she’s wiser than her age.”
