“We have not responded because we are yet to
receive any such query from them (NFF). We can only answer a memo sent to us
and in this case I have not seen any from the NFF,” Babalola said.
When reminded that the NFF issued a press
statement detailing that a query had been sent to the NPL board, the Secretary
insisted it was not in their file.
He said, “I suggest you go back to them to
confirm if they actually sent it.”
The PUNCH had called the NFF President
Alhaji Aminu Maigari last week to get the deadline given for the response from
the NPL and to which he said 36 hours. On Thursday, we also called him after
speaking with Babalola but he referred to the NFF Secretary Mr. Musa Amadu as
he was out of the country.
Amadu responded to our inquiry thus, “Did he say
he has not received any letter to that effect? No problem, you will get all the
details when the response is received from them and deliberated upon.”
The Nigeria Football Federation queried the
leadership of the Nigeria Premier League in respect of allegations of
inappropriate management of funds related to broadcast right fees, as contained
in the report of its auditors. The auditors’ report was exclusively published
by The PUNCH on October 18 and 19.
Maigari then issued a statement on the 20th
through the federation’s Chief Media Officer Ademola Olajire and which read,
“The NFF is highly concerned for the integrity of the Nigeria Premier League,
which has been built to a presentable brand as a result of over 20 years of
hard work, and which was recently rated as best in Africa.
“We cannot afford to fold our arms and remain
silent over such a matter that directly attacks the credibility of an important
aspect of the Nigeria game.
“The NFF is deeply concerned and we are
determined to get to the root of this matter.”
The NFF had said that they were only awaiting response
from the leadership of the NPL before taking further action.
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