Irabor’s committee held by the jugular

Inaugurated on Thursday, December 27, 2012 by the president of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Alhaji Aminu Maigari , the Irabor led committee was  mandated to organise the 2012/2013 League; review all contractual obligations of the NPL, including TV and Sponsorship rights; develop strategy and facilitate the reform of the League towards achieving profitability; review […]

Inaugurated on Thursday, December 27, 2012 by the president of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Alhaji Aminu Maigari , the Irabor led committee was  mandated to organise the 2012/2013 League; review all contractual obligations of the NPL, including TV and Sponsorship rights; develop strategy and facilitate the reform of the League towards achieving profitability; review existing rules and guidelines for the election into NPL Board; develop new standards for players’ contracts and welfare; and any other relevant matter(s) the Committee may deem necessary.
The committee made up of seasoned sports administrators and eminent Nigerians like Sabo Babayaro as vice Chairman, Salisu Abubakar, Modele Sarafa-Yusuf, Mike Enahoro, Kunle Elebute, Shehu Dikko, Nwankwo Kanu, Ifeanyi Dike, Seyi Akinwunmi,  Abubakar Nuhu Dan Buran, Mike Idoko as members and Tunji Babalola as Secretary swung into action in a bid to rescue the league which was in comatose following the sack of its former chairman, Chief Rumson Baribote by the club owners.
Considering that the commencement of the 2012/2013 season had already suffered so many postponements, there was every need to get the league started so nobody even bothered to look at the composition of the committee. Indeed the presence of names like Salisu Abubakar, Shehu Dikko and Kanu Nwankwo inspired so much hope.
Although the ongoing season commenced on February 16 across the country, it was amidst uncertainties. So many issues that needed to be addressed were left unattended to and analysts said it was like putting the cart before the horse. But the chairman of the committee insisted the league must commence.
Now with less than 10 weeks into the league, the committee which came with so much aplomb and promises on a rescue mission has already ran into murky waters and is in dire need of help from the body that set it up to survive the onslaught from the clubs.
At the moment, there is no love lost between the committee which is now calls itself League Management Company and the Nigerian club owners, comprising of the chairmen and managers of the 20 clubs that are participating in the Nigeria Professional Football League.
In its bid to reposition the league, the committee is said to have taken certain decisions which did not go down well with the clubs. The ‘sins’ of the committee according to the clubs include its first decision that each of the 20 clubs should pay N50m as bond to qualify to compete in the Nigerian Premier League, refusal of the committee to pay 5 months salary arrears of secretariat staff of the NPL, sidelining of their two representatives, Mike Idoko and Shehu Babayaro and running the league without laid down rules and regulations.
However, the last stroke that broke the camel’s back is said to be the recent decision by the Irabor committee to register the company known as League Management Company for the clubs without their consent. The clubs sought to have a meeting with the committee to thrash out all lingering issues but their demand was rebuffed by the leadership of the committee. As if to say enough is enough, the clubs decided to fight back.
Consequently, in defiance of the NFF warning that they should leave the committee alone or face severe sanctions, 17 of the 20 Premier League clubs held a meeting in Abuja on Sunday, April 21 and resolved to sack the Irabor led committee.
The club owners in a communique frowned at the allocation of 20 million shares of the said company to LMC chairman Nduka Irabor and 5 million shares representing 20% to NFF’s Aminu Maigari. To this end the body through their acting chairman Issac Danladi described the LMC as illegal.
“Consequent upon the illegal registration of the LMC by Nduka Irabor, we hereby disassociate and derecognise the LMC forthwith. The NPL executive secretary to immediately take charge of the secretariat and day to day running of the league with his management pending election of a substantive board for the league.”
However, in a swift reaction, the parent body, the Nigeria Football Federation stepped in to restore order by calling on the club owners to a meeting scheduled for Tuesday in Abuja. The NFF further demanded that status quo should be maintained. It was indeed a timely intervention which saw the league going on as scheduled.
Meanwhile, acting chairman of club chairmen and managers, Barrister Isaac Danladi who is also the chairman of Nasarawa United has told Shot! that all the 20 clubs are ready to honour the invitation by the NFF leadership.
He said the surest way to resolving any dispute is dialogue and now that the NFF has deemed it necessary to wade into the disagreement between the clubs and the LMC, he is confident the issues in contention would be resolved amicably.
Danladi said he is not envisaging any problem because the grievances of the clubs have been made known and he believes the NFF would as much as possible try to help in addressing the issues at stake.
“We and I mean all the club chairmen and managers are ready to meet with the NFF leadership and LMC on Tuesday. The meeting is a welcome development because dialogue is the best way to resolving any dispute.
“I do not want to pre-empt the outcome but I am confident we would arrive at decisions that would put the league on a sound footing. Already we have made known the issues we have with the committee and once they are taken care of, we won’t have any problem”.
A club chairman who spoke to Shot! but declined to be mentioned blamed the ongoing face-off on the committee chairman. He said Irabor had treated the clubs with total disdain and now it is time for him to eat the humble pie.
“Some of us are not totally against some of the decisions of the committee but the approaches have been defective. For heaven sake, without the clubs, there will be no committee for Irabor to head but he went about things as if he is not answerable to anybody.
“Tuesday is decision day and I hope we would engage in frank talk in order to move the league forward. The NFF also deserves commendation for replacing its earlier threat of sanctions with this meeting”.
The Nigeria league is said to be modelled after the English Premier League. And going by what is obtained in the EPL, the clubs have a good case in hand. Most observers are of the view that even if it has good intentions, the committee did not follow the right procedure in registering the League Company. For now, the rescuer is in need of help which can only come from the NFF.