Iyabo Ojo, an actress and filmmaker, has indicated that she will no longer be attempting to make amends with her coworkers, Funke Akindele and Toyin Abraham. She cited exhaustion from past interventions and rekindled tensions in the business.
Ojo responded to criticism, defended her previous behaviour, and described her prior efforts to mediate a settlement between the two actresses in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
She called the situation regrettable, emphasising that there is space for everyone to prosper, but she insisted that she was no longer able to persuade either side to patch things up.
Ojo also revealed that she has been in a relationship with Akindele for a number of years, despite times when they have disagreed, including a previous incident in which she publicly lambasted Akindele in support of Abraham’s film—a decision she said she now regrets.
She said, “This is for you who are saying bad things about me, insulting me, and calling me names that can’t be printed.” I need to set the record straight now. This is the last time I’m going to talk about anything like this. Funke and I have been friends for a long time, but we have had fights before, and both of us were to blame. I once went online to make fun of Funke because of Toyin’s movie. I shouldn’t have done that; I should have dealt with it properly. Funke and I made up later, and we talked about all of our problems and moved on. I did everything I could to get both of them to agree to peace. I cried, knelt, and begged them both to do so, which they did. You saw them interacting with each other a few months ago, but there was a condition: no one was to shade online if any issue arose. They both promised to talk about it off camera, but unfortunately, Dec came. Toyin made some complaints about her movie in cinemas, saying that someone was trying to sabotage her. Some fans pointed fingers at Funke, which sparked a new beef.
Ojo also explained why Abraham pulled out of her future movie, The Return of Arinzo, at the last minute.
Toyin was intended to be in “The Return of Arinzo,” but she said she was too tired and had to travel, so she dropped out at the last minute. I was upset because it cost me a lot of money to rework the plot, but the show must go on. We had to film by a certain date if I wanted The Return of Arinzo to come out on April 3rd. She said she was sorry, we made up, and that’s all there is to it. To be honest, all of this made me sad because there is room for everyone in the sky. I’ve done my best, but I can’t ask anyone anymore. I really don’t want to get engaged anymore. Please respect that. They will make peace when both sides are ready. No matter what, I love them both. She went on to say, “The Return of Arinzo will be in all theatres across the country starting on April 3.”
The announcement came only days after the star-studded premiere of The Return of Arinzo on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at the Balmoral Event Centre in Lagos.
A viral video from the event showed an embarrassing moment when Abraham said hello to Ojo and other coworkers, including Mercy Aigbe, before going up to Akindele.
Akindele didn’t seem to notice the welcome and kept her eyes on something else as Abraham moved on.
The clip got a lot of people talking, and sources say that both actresses stopped following each other on Instagram soon after.
