By Kelvin Ekerete
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, and Interim League Committee, IMC, may have stirred the hornets’ nest with the registration of Nigeria Premier League Limited, NPLL, with the Corporate Affairs Commission recently.
The IMC, headed by Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye on Tuesday last week announced that the Nigeria NFF had on February 2nd , 2023 ,registered a new Nigeria Premier League Limited by Guarantee.
The new limited liability company, according to findings at the CAC office in Abuja, is charged with the responsibilities to organise, regulate and manage Nigeria premier football league for male and female teams with company registration No. 6862169
The NPLL is also to promote the development of football in Nigeria through improved equitable broadcast rights which should lead to increased financial strength for clubs
The Directors of the new NPLL are Ibrahim Gusua- NFF President, Gbenga Elegbeleye – ILMC Chairman, Mohammed Sanusi – NFF Secretary General and Ibrahim Danladi. The club owners are not represented.
But tongues are wagging as to the real intentions of the Gusau-led NFF and IMC to register a new company when the NFLL is adjudged to be alive by Nigeria’s highest court. Experts are now looking beyond the façade of reasons and unconvincing reasons given for the registration. The conclusion is the fact that the NFF and IMC are trying to run away from their shadow by hiding behind a finger.
They needn’t be reminded that the Supreme Court judgement can never be wished away. Not even with a stretch of imagination as the wheels of justice grind slowly but grind fine.
Nigeria’s Supreme Court only in April last year declared the formation of the sacked League Management Company (LMC), set up by the former NFF President Aminu Maigari as an aberration and deceit.
In a landmark judgement, the five jurists comprising Justice Mary Odili, Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, Justice Ibrahim Mohammed, Justice Ejembi Eko and Justice Musa Saulawa held that the LMC is unknown to any football related law in Nigeria esp the premier football league
Delivering the lead judgement, Justice Ejembi Eko said the LMC was fraudulently floated to avoid and evade pre-existing debts and other obligations owed by the Nigeria Football League Limited that is mandated by law through NFA ACT to run professional football league in Nigeria.
It also chastised the lower courts that declared the Nigeria Football League Limited dead and pronounced it alive.
Outing from Supreme Court judgement: “It is curious that after the judgement of the lower court presided over by Justice Okorowo on the 24th of June 2016, the Nigeria Football League Limited received bank drafts to the tune of N254 million which it took value in and subsequently transferred to Club owners,” part of the judgement read.
The Supreme Court further noted that : “Of note is that the judgement of Okorowo is not the dissolution order within the purview of the provisions of section 454 (1) of the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). I must say straight away that there is a World of difference between the winding up of a company and the dissolution of a company. A company dies when a court orders the dissolution of the company. The revocation of a company and order of court winding up, some does not indicate its death. A company under winding up proceedings has not died. It is still alive but perhaps sick,” the learned justice said.
Similarly, Justice Donatus Okorowo had in 2012 declared the Statutes of the world football governing body, FIFA is not domesticated in Nigeria and cannot have the force of law within the geographical entity of Nigeria Justice Okorowa also made very clear the law in Nigeria governing football is NFA ACT and the law does not permit NFA to bear or change the name it’s known in the ACT to NFF or any other
Without any shadow of probation, it is apt to conclude that if LMC was fraudulent and illegal in 2016, then the new NPLL set up by Gusau’s is equally illegal NFF. Not with the litany of judgements hanging as albatross on the NFF!
Caution should have been the watch word here but the NFF and IMC are trying to be clever by half trying to circumvent Nigeria’s laws.
Now that they have once again run foul of the law, they sure may get entangled with yet another battle over the illegal registration of the NPLL.
