Salawa Abeni responds to Kollington Ayinla's claim about their marriage

Waka music star Salawa Abeni has spoken up about Fuji legend Kollington Ayinla’s claim that she is still his legal wife. She said she did not leave their marriage.

This comes more than a year after Kollington made his statement. Abeni addressed it for the first time during an interview on Oyinmomo TV.

In May 2025, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Kollington insisted on the Teju Babyface Podcast that Abeni is neither his concubine nor girlfriend but his lawful wife.

Abeni divorced the late Leader Records founder, Lateef Adepoju, in 1986. After that, she married Kollington. She had two children with Adepoju and three with Kollington before their marriage ended in 1994.

After leaving Adepoju, Abeni switched from his record label to Kollington’s. They worked together on the albums I Love You (1988) and We Are the Children (1989).

In 2023, Abeni introduced Rasheed Adahunse, the Comptroller and Commandant of the Nigeria Customs Training College, as her husband.

Kollington, on his part, has several wives. In a 2014 interview with The Nation, he denied claims of having as many as 15 wives, calling that number exaggerated.

Abeni's Response

While speaking on Oyinmomo TV, the 65-year-old singer said she never left Kollington.

She said, “How the pain of ants is felt can only be told by those they bite. Who I am, only those who love me can explain. If they don’t like someone somewhere, they don’t take the needle. I won’t say more than that regarding my marriage to Kollington Ayinla. I read an interview online where he said, “I’m still his wife.”

“I indeed had children for him, but I wasn’t the one who left. It wasn’t a matter of showing off, or stubbornness, or something I did. 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. May my God continue to protect me. That’s one of the songs in my discography, Iriri.”

Their Connection

Abeni also shared that her experiences during their relationship's breakdown inspired her 1991 album, Experience.

Though she did not clarify their current relationship status, she said they are still connected because of their children.

“When that thing happened, I recorded an album titled Experience. In the album, I sang about how I got home and met my friends eating; they asked me to join them, but that wasn’t what my situation needed at the time.

“I got to a beer parlour, and my friends called me to join them for a drink, but that wasn’t what my situation needed. I got home and talked to my lover, and he asked that we be intimate, but that wasn’t my problem. My lover asked me what happened, and I said my life experiences were what were weighing on me. We’re still connected because of the children between us.