Former Minister for Sports and Youth Development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has been told to take caution after he misinformed the public as to why Sunday Dare replaced the League Management Company LMC with Interim Management Committee (IMC) to take charge of Nigeria, top-flight league.
A former member on the board of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL), name withheld, said that it was unwarranted of Abdullahi after he made such an unguarded statement on Dare regarding the IMC and his achievements.
"The emergence of the IMC by NFF was good riddance to bad rubbish. If my facts are correct, Sunday Dare decided scrapping of LMC after having meetings with the 20 club owners in his office in Abuja. The Club Owners stated that the league cannot be where it ought to be if LMC was still in charge.
"They added that under LMC, the league title belonged to the highest bidders, citing that as one of the reasons Nigeria club cannot compete favourably with their African counterparts in the continent.
"Kudos to Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye whose IMC put the interest of clubs, players and referees above personal interest. Elegbeleye and others at the IMC facilitated the two Hundred million naira given as take off grants to the 20 clubs, up-front payment of referee indemnities."
"LMC in the last few years failed to give kick off grants to 20 clubs in the NPFL while IMC in its first season gave Two hundred million naira (N200m) to all twenty participating clubs.
"A hundred per cent of the issues identified by Hon Minister Bolaji as the reason for creating LMC were the same issues we faced under the said LMC
"Which monetary value did LMC bring when clubs got zero kobos for four seasons of participating in the league? The former board member stated.
"The defunct LMC had so much money but clubs got nothing, referees indemnity was not paid for more than three years. So where goes the huge money?
"If there was any, maybe in the personal pockets of some individuals and not for the general benefits of all
"LMC could not give any club a dime for six (6) years and IMC gave 10 million as a start-up for teams in NPFL.
"Under IMC, One Hundred Million was given to the winner of just the preseason tournament, what a way of restructuring the league by IMC. Kudos to the Sports Minister, NFF President and Chairman of IMC for taking bold steps to restructure former Minister Bolaji Abdullahi failed concept.
"Referees have improved tremendously because of prompt payment of indemnities, a 100 per cent increment by IMC led by Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye in terms of their allowances which was the stimulation of the better and improved league we are seeing at the moment.
"Those journalists should have asked the ex-minister one last sincere question “whether those ills he sought to cure in the league by creating LMC were achieved going by the reality of how things later played out”.
"What are we even talking about? The same Minister who wasted tax payers money when he led Nigeria to 2012 Olympic in London without winning a medal", he concluded.
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