Abdulmumuni Abiola, son of the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, has opened up on how the family detected paternity frauds committed by some of the late patriarch’s widows.
The late politician’s son revealed this while speaking on several issues on the latest episode of the MIC ON Podcast with Seun Okinbaloye.
According to Abdulmumuni, though the record on MKO’s will showed that he had 40 wives, some of his partners were not captured in the legal document.
Contrary to popular belief that the late politician fathered over 100 children, Abdulmumuni said the Abiola family is smaller than speculated.
He said even though his father was paying school fees for 103 children while he was alive, blood tests conducted after his death revealed that only 55 were his biological children.
“You know, the Abiola family, we are not that much because people are thinking we’re a lot. We are only 55.
“They were 40 wives according to the will but I think they were 40 something though. I think there are some wives that were not there at the end but there were 40 wives.
“Most of the wives had maybe one or two for my dad not everyone… so when my father was alive, he was paying for 103 children to go to school but like I said, not all of them were his so after the blood test, we happened to be 55 which is actually a manageable number if you’re in a country of 220 million people.
“You would think my father was enjoying himself but apparently he wasn’t enjoying himself that much,” he said.
Also, Abdulmumuni took a swipe at his father’s eldest son, Kola Abiola, over what he called the poor handling of their father’s legacies.
He said his brother, who was well-positioned to hoist MKO’s legacy, has failed in that regard.
According to him, instead of carrying on their father’s struggle, Kola was having a relationship with the former Head of State General Ibrahim Babangida’s daughter while his father was in prison.
Abdulmumuni stressed that Kola could have been a strong voice, adding that Nigerians and himself are unhappy with how the struggle went after MKO’s demise.
“He was in a pivotal position, especially after the whole crisis. He (Kola) could have been a voice.
“He could have been a strong voice of true democratic values. He could have.
“He chose not to—apparently, at the time my father was still in jail—he was having a relationship with Babangida’s daughter. I don’t want to go down there. You know—it’s just sad, you know.
“I’m actually a little bit displeased that my brother didn’t get to come out and see what the people’s response to his first turnout will be (to test his acceptability and popularity and ride on Abiola’s legacies).
“Therefore, I am unhappy with him, and I think Nigerian people are unhappy,” he added.
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyer