It was another reign of Impunity as the rest of the Matchday one matches were played in the Nigeria Premier Football League this week.
We reliably fact checked and gathered that the NPFL is fast becoming a league where unprofessionalism and Anyhowness is the order of the day.
Just a week after it was brought it to the fore how Elkanemi Warriors connived with the officers of the NFF Club Licensing Department and NPFL to transfer old players and play new players against Enugu Rangers FC in their opening match of the season defying the transfer ban and playing of new players order against the club, by the NFF Players Status and Arbitration Committee.
The follow up weekend where the rest of the Matchday one matches were played, more clubs bravely followed the bad precedent supervised by the NFF and NPFL in the Elkanemi Warriors case as Enyimba FC, Akwa United, Lobi Stars, Kwara United, Katsina United, Plateau United, Abia Warriors and Heartland FC joined Elkanemi Warriors succeeded in making the important committee and their ruling useless in the settlement of contract dispute between players, coaches and the hiring clubs by fielding new players as against an existing order which has not been vacated by Court of Arbitration, or any waiver or addendum or any agreement whatsoever.
What is more worrying is the deafening silence from the Nigeria Football Federation, as it has been established that the NFF Club Licensing Department and NPFL is compromised and they are not willing to uphold the ruling of the committee to the detriment of the indebted players and general image and outlook of the league.
The moral burden is on the Ibrahim Gusau led NFF to disapprove that this is not a grand scheme to kill the goose that lay the golden eggs, if the players who are supposed to be the biggest stakeholder in the NPFL are being owned while indebted clubs has no regard for contractual agreements.
This silence by the NFF board led by Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau is no longer golden, otherwise it will mean a consent to the illegalities perpetrated by the affected clubs and their collaborators.
This gap or slack from the NFF will surely bring anarchy at the end of the day as these players who were owned, and unlawfully thrown out of their job may seek justice elsewhere or by any means available to them if the constituted legal channel is proving unworthy and helpless in getting them the justice.
As a matter of emergency, there is an urgent need to nip the ugly development in the bud, as the little gain of setting up the Players Status and Arbitration Committee has been traded away on official rascality of the clubs and the officers of the NPFL.
The NFF should know that it is not enough to set up a dispute resolution and arbitration committee and its judgement won’t be implemented, it’s an aberration of the highest order.
It is certain this trend of unlawful termination of contracts and indebtedness to players, coaches and other clubs will continue in the current season, since there was no punishment for those who did before.
Gusau should not allow this murder of justice and rights of the players, coaches and clubs to persist for one more day because decisive action needs to be taken with immediate as this high level official lawlessness has no place in football development and its growth.
A glance at the clubs’ indebtedness to their various former employees who got judgment in their favour for the unlawful termination of contracts by the NFF Players Status and Arbitration Committee ruling as clubs are to comply by the rulings before the kick off of the 2024/2025 NPFL but all failed to abide by the ruling without remorse.
•Abia Warriors shall pay Ikedinachi Nwakanma & Julius Obinna N4 million & N3 million respectively for wrongfully terminating their contracts.
•Imoh Azubuike is entitled to get overdue payables to the tune of N3.15 milion from Abia Warriors.
•Abia Warriors shall pay Victor Alegbe N5 million for wrongfully terminating his contract & overdue payables.
•Enyimba FC shall pay Stephen Chukwude N5m for wrongfully terminating his contract.
•Jonah James, Jonas Emmanuel, H. Shamsudeen, Kanti and Abiodun Adebayo are all entitled to overdue payables from Katsina Utd. Payments to be made by instalments between June and September 2024.
•Katsina United shall pay Coach Usman Shariff Abd’Allah N7.7 million for overdue payables.
•Katsina United shall pay Coach Nasir Salisu N1.25 million for overdue payables.
•Katsina United shall pay Coach Tony Bolus N8 million for overdue payables.
•Enyimba shall pay Chijioke Akuneto N1.2 million for overdue payables.
•Lobi Stars shall pay Christian Nwokedi N1.5 million for overdue payables.
•El-Kanemi Warriors shall pay Bala Yusuf, Emmanuel Adoyi and Suleiman Sodiq N750,000, N1.65 million and N1 million respectively for overdue payables.
•Kwara United shall pay John Obuh N10.45 million for overdue payables.
•Akwa United shall pay Osahon Uhunmwangbon & others N47 million for overdue payables in revalidation of earlier decision from 2015.
