How DNA revealed our dad fathered 55, not 103 children – Late MKO Abiola’s son

Abdulmumuni Abiola, son of the acclaimed winner of the 12 June 1993 presidential elections, the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, has recounted how DNA confirmed his dad fathered 55 children, and not 103, as widely believed.

Mr Abiola, during an interview on Seun Okinbaloye’s ‘Mic On’ podcast on YouTube, said his father had 40 wives and 103 children, pending DNA confirmation.

“The Abiola family were not that much, but people thought we were a lot—just 55 children. There were 40 wives, but I think they (the wives) were about forty-something according to the will. Most of the wives had maybe one or two children for my daddy.

“When my father was alive, he paid the fees of about 103 children. But like I said, not all of them were his. After the blood tests (DNA), we happened to be 55, a manageable number if we were in a country of 200 million people. You’ll think my father was enjoying himself, but not that much. Only 55 children with all the time he had.”

He stated that he contacted the legitimate children, some of whom were young, when DNA tests confirmed their paternity.

Furthermore, he said he reached out to all of them as adults to strategise and restructure their father’s business, but the plan failed.

To ensure unity among his children, Mr Abiola said his father’s will specified that everything (MKO Abiola’s properties) should be sold after the wives received their shares and the proceeds divided among the children.

Abdulmumuni Abiola, son of the acclaimed winner of the 12 June 1993 presidential elections, the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola

Kola Abiola

During the interview, Mr Abiola, whose mother, Kudirat Abiola, was assassinated on 4 June 1996 in Lagos State, also claimed his father’s goals were not achieved and cited plausible reasons.

He said: “My father stated in his will that after they gave his wives the money, everything else should be sold and equally shared among the children. I don’t believe my father wanted to sell them (properties). He wanted us to come together as one unit (family). Still, we couldn’t achieve that for some reason, especially with the first family, where Kola Abiola is the first son.

“It’s hard for me to say Kola and I are not on good terms, and I don’t want to have an issue with my older brother. I love him, and I hope he does as well. It’s our collective responsibility; he should step aside if he’s not playing his part. He was in a good position after the crisis and could be the strong voice of true democratic values, but he chose not to. At the time my father was still in jail, he was having a relationship with Ibrahim Babangida’s daughter. It was so sad that my father was not alive to see what his first son had turned out to be. I’m unhappy with him.”

Kola’s political ambition

He also acknowledged his strained relationship with Kola and

questioned his (Kola’s) political ambition. Kola was the Peoples’ Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, which President Bola Tinubu won.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that he polled 72,144 votes.

“How many people voted for him (Kola Abiola) when he said he wanted to be president? I wondered how he thought he could be president when he couldn’t manage the Abiola Empire and how he would manage Nigeria. How does it work? This is the problem in Nigeria: people don’t show capacity in their little workspace and want to get to a higher position. When he was campaigning for president, I told him he wouldn’t use my money for the campaign. I asked him to return my money and proceed with his campaign. He owed me a lot of money.”

Mr Abiola is the Managing Director of Abiola Logistics Limited.