Adekunle Salami
Football stakeholders have commended the recent judgement of the Supreme Court which proscribed the organisers of the Nigeria’s domestic League, League Management Company.
Following the verdict, the Federal Government through the Ministry of Sports also last week advised the Nigeria Football Federation to uphold the verdict of the apex court in the country by withdrawing the license of the LMC and set up an Interim Management Committee for the running of the domestic league.
In a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Ismaila Abubakar, the sports ministry also stated that the FG will no longer recognize the LMC in the operations of football in the country.
A former international, Chief Segun Odegbami, at the weekend stated that the LMC and the NFF were illegal and not in the Nigerian laws.
“I have asked this question many months ago about the legality of the NFF and the LMC. Both are nowhere in our books and so I was not surprised about the judgement and also the position of the ministry of sports on the issue,” he said.
The Chairman of the Task Force for the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria, Harrisson Jalla, commended the ministry of sports for advising the NFF to uphold the verdict of the Supreme Court.
“The Ministry of Sports has done Nigeria domestic League a great favour by declaring illegal the LMC. The LMC should show Football stakeholders and Nigerians the assets it is leaving behind for the Interim Management Committee after 9 years of managing the NPFL,” he said.
Another stakeholder who prefers anonymity stressed that the domestic league has suffered a great deal due to the maladministration of the operations.
“Those running the league in the past nine years have ruined our domestic football. Even if the court is not ruling against LMC, they should just go. The LMC has huge catalogue of indebtedness and huge liabilities without a single asset. Those who will take over will inherit 100% liabilities with zero assets. There are backlog of salaries to be attended to.
“This judgement is a good omen and now that the FG has shown interest, we can start somewhere because the law is supreme.”
He added that the officials of the defunct LMC in the past 9 years must be evaluated and made to provide answers to various problems they have created.
The PFAN also added stressed that the LMC must be probed: “The NPFL should be assisted with a take-off grant by the FG for the IMC to operate until the battered Image of the NPFL already tainted with several dubious transactions and pending litigations are properly cleaned up.
“There should be an enquiry into the activities of the LMC as it concerns public funds received by way of sponsorships for the development of football in Nigeria.”
The Chairman of Nembe FC, Rumson Baribote, described the entire scenario as a conception aborted by legality.
He said: “An elected Board of the Nigeria Premier League was unconditionally removed in the middle of the night by a purported Congress and a serving Minister masterminded the coup.
“Today, if another minister, seeing the realities on the ground, decides to put a stop to an illegal act, he should be applauded. One cannot use a government instrument to raise funds and then spend those funds to run a private company registered under the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).”
A journalist who follows the league closely in the past two decades, Ben Memuletiwon, also said: The defunct LMC should be probed. Let them explain how they spent N2.6b Supersports money in two years. The LMC has not given any club a dime in 10 years. Even winners of the league are not given a kobo.
“Our league was being played in the courtrooms instead of lush green grasses because a group of greedy friends confused the minister to concur to the 100 years private license to register a private company to run the league. They came and looted the whole place. That was why Globacom and later Supersports withdrew from the league.”
