Victor Baribote, former Chairman of the Nigeria Premier League, backtracked on the federal government directive on revoking the League Management Company operating license.
The federal government on Friday advised the Nigerian Football Association to revoke LMC’s license immediately.
The LMC were the operators of the Nigeria Professional Football League.
A statement by Ismaila Abubakar, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, sparked interested parties in this development on Friday.
Abubakar said the government was forced to revoke the LMC’s recognition as NPFL operators with immediate effect. He said this is in light of several unpleasant incidents regarding the administration of the football league in the country.
Baribote, speaking to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, described the LMC as an illegal design aborted by legality.
He wondered why a group of people were crying over the federal government directive and lamented that Nigerians are not good history students.
He said, “Why all the noise about LMC?
“Some of us are not good history students. “I think we have to ask ourselves: how did the so-called LMC come about?
“An elected council of NPL was unconditionally removed in the middle of the night while responsible Nigerians were sleeping by a group of people gathered in the name of the alleged congress.
“They did it without any of the council members present and the minister was the mastermind behind the coup and heaven did not fall into this first-rate lawlessness.
“If another minister, seeing the reality on the ground, decides today to put an end to an act unknown to the laws of the country, I see nothing wrong with that action”.
He argued that it was wrong to use a government tool to raise funds and continue spending those funds to run his private company registered under the Company and Allied Matters Act.
Baribote, the NFF’s second vice president once, stressed that the government reserves the right to say it does not recognize LMC as an agency under the Federal Department of Sport. He added: “Please note that the LMC is not one of the five members of the NFF as clearly stated in article 10.1 of the 2010 NFF Statute, as amended.
“The Minister of Sport exercises only his supervisory function over the sport, including but not limited to the NFF, in accordance with Article 1.1 of the Statute of the NFF for convenience set out here.
“The NFF is a private organization of an associative nature under the laws of Nigeria, it is registered for an indefinite period and this provision has been approved by FIFA.
Also read: CAF CUP: NPFL Winners Rivers United Defeat Watanga FC 3-0
“Who oversees the sport enshrined in our constitution, which the NFF has voluntarily presented and approved by FIFA? “Of course, the Minister of Sport.”
Baribote stressed that it was the responsibility of the Department of Sport not to recognize the LMC and therefore to instruct the NFF to revoke the license unjustly granted to the LMC.
He added: “Look again on page 3 of the NFF Statute, second after the last paragraph: NPL means Nigeria Premier League, the subordinate and duly recognized NFF body and responsible for organizing Premier League Football in Nigeria.
Furthermore, Article 78 (2) also states: «The Executive Committee may delegate the power to organize competitions to Leagues subordinate to the NFF. Competitions organized by Leagues must not interfere with competitions organized by NFF. The races organized by the NFF have priority ”.
“Not even the court can help someone enforce an illegal contract. It, therefore, falls within the competence of the Ministry of Sport not to recognize the LMC and therefore to instruct the NFF to revoke the license unjustly granted to the LMC.
“So why don’t we make a bad time out of nowhere?”
