Abdul-mumin Abiola, son of the late Kudirat Abiola, has expressed his frustrations regarding the ongoing dispute over the estate of his late father, Chief MKO Abiola. In this week’s edition on the Mic on Podcast with Seun Okinbaloye, Abdul-mumin made it clear that this was not just a family feud but a fight to ensure that his father’s will was honored as intended.
“This is about my father’s last wishes; the will is executed and the way he wants it. This is his property. This is his legacy. The way and manner of which these things have been managed so far is not helping.”
The crux of the conflict appears to revolve around Abdul’s eldest brother, Kola Abiola, whom he accuses of taking control of family assets without respecting their father’s will. He alleged that Kola and a few others have deliberately excluded the rest of the family from their rightful inheritance, expressing his dismay at the lack of engagement.
“To my surprise, he (Kola) did not reach out to me after my last interview on this podcast. I am disappointed. There might just be no way of getting any kind of justice except we get the powers that be to do the right thing.”
One of Abdul-mumin’s major concerns is the mismanagement and sale of family properties, including his late mother Kudirat Abiola’s assets. “My mom’s apartment in the United Kingdom, before we knew anything, brother (Kola) has sold it without telling my brothers and sisters about it. They were systematic in trying to impoverish my mom’s side of the family, and for that reason, I don’t think I will be able to forgive him. My mom was number two on the list of my father’s will. I think she was apportioned £150,000, but Kola had sighted the fact that my mom died, and because of that, British law will not allow him to release the money.”
In addition to property disputes, Abdul raised concerns about the management of Summit Oil, a company owned by his late father, Chief MKO Abiola. He accused Kola of engaging in secretive dealings involving the company, noting that millions of dollars were unaccounted for. “Since 2017, Summit Oil has been lifting. This was an agreement that he had done with a third-party… they’ve lifted over 566,000 barrels of oil. Between that time span, fifty million dollars has passed between the operator and brother Kola and his sister’s hands. None of us was named among the Board of Summit Oil. I don’t even know who made them chairman and director. These things they’ve done are illegal. My dad never made any of his children Directors in any of his companies!”
To address these grievances, Abdul-mumin called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure a fair resolution to the dispute. “We are writing a letter to Mr. President, seeking his intervention in this matter as the Minister for Petroleum and as father of the nation. He should see what they’ve done with my father’s oil company. He should call all the parties to order, call Kola to order! Enough is enough! If you’ve been benefitting for 24 years, the money you’ve amassed in that 24 years, you should not even need Abiola’s assets anymore”
Despite the ongoing legal battles and family tension, Abdul-mumin maintained that he was open to reconciliation, provided that justice is served, and as well emphasizing his desire for dialogue to resolve the impasse, “I think there’s always room for reconciliation. I will never close the door to reconciliation. I will never close the door to talking to my siblings and my brothers. Every anger or disagreement I have is because we are not talking. If we’re talking, we can easily work towards these issues.”
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