Funke Akindele

Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele-Bello (born 24 August 1977) popularly known as Funke Akindele or Jenifa, is a Nigerian filmmaker, actress, director, producer and politician. Akindele starred in the sitcom I Need to Know from 1998 to 2002, and in 2009, she won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. for her role in Jenifa, which brought her into fame. Akindele reprised the role in a 2015 television series adaption titled Jenifa's Diary, for which she was named the Best Actress in a Comedy at the 2016 and 2017 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards. Akindele won the same award in 2020 and 2022, making it her fifth win for the Best Actress in a Comedy category. Akindele is the most nominated actress/filmmaker at the AMVCA and currently owns six wins which makes her the actress with most wins. She is the second director to gross over a billion naira at the Nigeria box office.

In 2022, she was nominated by the People's Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate, Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, as the running mate for the 2023 Lagos state governorship election.