Waka music icon Salawa Abeni has finally addressed Fuji legend Kollington Ayinla’s repeated claim that she remains his legal wife, offering her own perspective in a frank interview that challenges the long standing narrative.
The celebrated Queen of Waka shared her thoughts during an interview broadcast on Oyinmomo TV’s YouTube channel on July 18, 2026.
Her comments came more than a year after Kollington stirred public debate in May 2025 when, during an appearance on the Teju Babyface Podcast, he referred to Abeni as his lawful wife.
During the conversation, the 65-year-old singer spoke candidly about their past relationship.
“I indeed had children for him, but I wasn’t the one who left,” she said. “It wasn’t a matter of showing off, or stubbornness, or something I did.”
She also reflected on the example set by her late mother, explaining that her upbringing shaped her beliefs about marriage and commitment.
“My mother didn’t have two husbands; she had a rival. She had all her children for my father only. Destiny won’t go unfulfilled.”
Salawa Abeni and Kollington: a complicated history
Salawa Abeni and Kollington Ayinla have shared a relationship that spans both their personal lives and musical careers. Following the end of her marriage to the late Lateef Adepoju, founder of Leader Records, in 1986, the Waka star married Kollington.
She welcomed two children with Adepoju before having three more with Kollington Ayinla. Their marriage eventually came to an end in 1994.
While they were together, the duo also enjoyed a successful musical partnership, releasing projects such as I Love You in 1988 and We Are the Children in 1989 through Kollington’s record label.
According to Salawa Abeni, the difficult experiences she went through during that period became the inspiration behind some of her music.
“When that thing happened, I recorded an album titled Experience,” she shared, describing how the songs captured her state of mind at the time, surrounded by friends who offered food and drink, yet unable to find comfort in any of it.
“That wasn’t what my situation needed,” she recalled.
Although the two have publicly disagreed over how their former marriage should be viewed, Salawa Abeni admitted that they continue to share a lasting connection because of their family.
“We’re still connected because of the children between us,” she said plainly.
In 2023, the veteran Waka performer introduced Rasheed Adahunse, Comptroller and Commandant of the Nigeria Customs Training College, as her husband, a revelation that attracted significant public attention.
Kollington Ayinla, on the other hand, has long been associated with having multiple wives.
Speaking with The Nation in a 2014 interview, the Fuji star dismissed claims that he had married as many as 15 wives, insisting that the widely circulated figure was exaggerated.
Watch the video below
