By The Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Adewale Shotobi has said he shares no blood relations with the mother of popular Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele as claimed in a report.
BlackBox Nigeria had reported that Akindele has been picked as the running mate to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos, Olajide Adediran better known as ‘Jandor’.
Though her nomination is yet to be made official, there are strong feelers that the choice of the actress who hails from the Ikorodu area of Lagos might have been inspired by the agelong agitations by stakeholders of the ancient town over the exclusion of Ikorodu in top positions in the state.
An online news medium, Gazelle News had claimed Akindele’s mother is the immediate younger sister of the Ayangbure of Ikorodu.
Reacting in a statement issued on his behalf by the Agba Akin of Ikorodu, Otunba Ayodele Elesho, on Wednesday, Oba Shotobi described the claim as “very far from the truth”.
“I wish to state clearly without any ambiguity that I am not related to Funke Akindele’s mother in any way,” he said.
“I am a bonafide son of Lasunwon Ruling house on my father’s side, from where l got the golden opportunity of ascending the throne of Ayangbure of Ikorodu seven years ago.
“My late mother was equally a bonafide daughter of Rademo Ruling house and to the best of my knowledge, Funke Akindele’s mother does not belong to any of the two Royal families in Ikorodu.”
The monarch said Funke’s late father, Reverend Idowu Akindele was an indigene of Ikorodu, but was not related to any of the two royal families in the town, while her mother is believed to be from the Eastern part of Nigeria.
“To put the record straight, none of Funke Akindele’s parents were related to me. I wish to place on record that as first class monarch in Lagos State, l am not involved in politics and nobody should drag my name into politics or use my name to get cheap political gain or popularity,” Oba Shotobi added.
He finally demanded that the publication pull down the story from its website as well as other social media houses that circulated the “false story”.
