One of Nigeria’s vintage sports entrepreneurs, Hon. Ahmed Shuaibu Gara Gombe has described as sheer ignorance and shameful how the Nigeria Professional Football league (NPFL) was registered as a private company.
In this interview with UZOR ODIGBO, Hon. Gombe was emphatic on how the league managers have ignorantly mismanaged and how the League Chairman, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye single handedly registered NPFL as a company independent of government and without its liabilities.
The former Chairman of Gombe United Football Club also narrated how Managers of NPFL preferred N1. 6bn only and turned down $11m sponsorship deal from other interested parties
Excepts…
How is the news of Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye’s response to your opposition of the StarTimes deal come to you?
Many people drew my attention to an audio video that was in circulation in the social media platforms which the appointed Chairman of NPFL Elegbeleye released. Apart from those that drew my attention or forwarded the video to me, a few days after, others called me to ask for my reaction.
All those who forwarded the video to me did it because substantial part of the interview addressed the issue on the League Sponsorship as regards StarTimes and Broadcast rights deal of the League.
Why did you oppose the StarTimes TV rights deal?
The reason being that I am one of those that opposed the StarTimes deals and will continuously oppose it, as it is against the National interest.
In some of the comments, Elegbeleye made spirited effort to answer me indirectly, he did not mention my name, because he felt I am not important. Though I didn’t expect him to mention my name. Likewise, I don’t recognise him as NPFL Chairman because he was appointed.
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By convention and status, he is supposed to be Elected. That explains why I don’t recognise him, if he didn’t mention my name, that’s his own business.
On the issues he addressed, I thought Elegbeleye was smart, unfortunately, he is not, he got all he said wrongly and I will responds to him, one after the other.
What in your view suggests that Elegbeleye is not qualified to head NPFL?
The time he granted the interview I was on transit outside the country Nigeria. First, Elegbeleye said that the NPFL was not a Government organ but an independent body not covered by laws of Nigeria. That alone shows that Elegbeleye is not qualified to head NPFL as Chairman. The guy is just empty. How could he say NPFL is a private organisation, how could he say it’s not covered by Laws and Procurement Act of Nigeria. By implication, he is saying that the NPFL has no legitimacy. Where then does the NPFL draw its legitimacy?
But Elegbeleye said he was directed to register the NPFL as a company by the Minister of Sports and the leadership of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
If I say the Minister or Ministry of Sports or NFF advised you to register NPFL as a private company, who is NPFL? Who is Ministry of Sports and who is NFF? As far as Nigeria is concerned, NFF is a parastatal of government. That has not changed.
There are check-lists that qualifies any organ to be part of government. NPFL could not have been registered without the authority of government. Elegbeleye should not be saying that NPFL is independent, they are never independent. He is displaying total ignorance for making such statement and I expect him to withdraw it.
In recent times, Managers of the Nigerian League have been in business of registering Companies from which they draw funds. From, LMC to NFL and latest NPFL. They would register it with CAC and abandon it only to leave the liabilities and move on. This is wicked and shameful.
The second part is, who are the major players in NPFL as a company, perhaps, the football clubs? Who are these football clubs? Who owns the football clubs, who funds them, without the football clubs, Elegbeleye would be jobless at the moment.
The football clubs are registered by CAC, they are companies owned by State governments, by the time this gets to the head of Gbenga Elegbeleye, the better. He should stop referring to NPFL as an independent body, its sheer ignorance and a Shame.
Having said that, Elegbeleye also said, the Broadcast rights deal of NPFL is still open and not exclusive. But why didn’t he say it the day they were signing the contract in Abuja?
The NFF president Ibrahim Musa Gusau made a statement, Elegbeleye also made a statement, StarTmes made a statement and nobody told Nigerians that the deal is still open for interested parties or new bidders, he is making a sharp U-turn now that Stakeholders have cried out
Total Promotion versus NPFL have issues to settle, do you think NPFL have a case to answer?
I also understand that a company that promotes freedom of information act ran to NPFL asking them to provide information on when and where NPFL advertised or called for the Broadcast rights bidders to come for the expression of interest? What were the process? How many companies submitted proposal? Where and at what time was the expression of interest for bid opened for those who expressed interest? Elegbeleye wants to be clever by half thinking he was taking to fools. Elegbeleye should hurry to respond to the letter addressed to him by Total Promotions.
Should the bid be opened, you can still bring the much talked about $11m as Broadcast rights to NPFL?
Again, on our own, I said we have the capacity to raise $11m US Dollars, for league and we still stand by our word.
We have a TV station, a TV platform, we have given the figures to those who wants to listen but they ignored us. GTI are the ones raising money for the league, giving money to the clubs and everything. I personally paid a visit to GTI headquarters, I had a meeting with the CEO, GMD, and also the desk officer of the league. GTI is a big company, they deal in other businesses in the Capital market.
I told them we appreciate all they are doing, you are gradually restoring credibility in the Nigerian League. And advised them not to advance funds to NPFL because they can never be trusted. By giving the clubs money directly and paying match officials is excellent, keep doing it that way. But we also informed them that we have partners who have examined the potentials of Nigeria Football league, and have capacity to raise Eleven million Dollars in the first year, they said fine, I arranged a zoom meeting with them, the meeting was successful. We submitted a Concept Note to them, not a proposal, outlining how the $11m US Dollars would be raised. The desk officer Mr. Nelson kept the document for nine days. He didn’t show it to his bosses. After nine days we became apprehensive and began to ask questions having not received replies or acknowledged the Concept Note we sent. I had to directly speak to GTI GMD, he said he has not seen it. We told him we sent it Nine days ago. And we showed him evidence of how it got to the Desk officer’s Mail which he acknowledged.
Why didn’t Nelson the desk officer share it with his GMD?
I called Nelson on the 10th day and I told him I would like to speak with him, he instead opted to call me but didn’t call me for three days. On the 12th day was when I got information that Nelson had rushed to Abuja to sign the scandalous StarTimes Broadcast rights deal. Why should they keep our Concept Note for Nine days only for them to Sign dubious contract deal in Abuja.Is this not hypocrisy? That’s why I said we are going to challenge it at any level, it would not work.
If GTI is serious to raise this money for the League, how would you drop a Concept Note that has full details of $11m US Dollars and preferred StarTimes N1.6b which everybody is celebrating. Many investors ran away from the League owing to lack of credibility of those managing it.
Gbenga Elegbeleye said he has no business with the assets and liabilities of LMC. Imagine the ignorance? And he kept on working with assets (Clubs) and leaving liabilities (debts) behind. Has LMC been liquidated, why is everyone shunning its liabilities?
Elegbeleye forgot a Supreme Court judgement that ruled that all assets and liabilities of the league are to be succeeded by whoever takes over the management of the league at any given time. What this means is that you can’t take assets and leave liabilities behind and walk away.
There are many people being owed by the league managers and CAC have rules on how companies should be liquidated which has not happened in this circumstance. I therefore, advise Elegbeleye to learn more and should stop parading himself as Chairman of the League.
On the issue of Total Promotions, I am not speaking for Total Promotion. All I know is that there’s a subsisting litigation as far the issue with LMC is concerned. My position on that is, the Total Promotion issue is with LMC not with Clubs. At the same time, we must not continue to shun anyone who has taken a matter to court and say it doesn’t matter because it is football. That’s where we are making mistakes.
We are a lawless country where anything goes, including ignoring court orders. NPFL have to listen to Total Promotion just to persuade them to obey court judgement than to dismiss them by a wave of hands.
What is your impression about the Sports Minister’s score card in 100 days?
I don’t like the way the Minister is handling sports in General. Those advising him cannot take him anywhere. The Minister is biased and arbitrary. He is moving in one direction and it will consume him. The Minister is not neutral and is putting his eggs in one basket with incompetent and arrogant advisers who know nothing about sports and its History in Nigeria. This is between us and he knows it. Their honeymoon will soon be over. The Minister knows what I’m talking about and I would say it at the right time.
