The Federal Government has foreclosed any involvement in the novelty boxing match, Guinness World Boxing Project, being promoted by former World Cruiserweight Champion, Bash Ali with assertion that the proposed bout falls under the purview of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C), being a professional category that is purely a business concern.
The government distanced itself from the fight in a series of documents and correspondence with Bash Ali, who had now been informed through his lawyer, B.O. Nafagha & Co., to refrain from acts that interfere with the activities of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, where the former World Cruiserweight Champion had been pressuring officials to endorse the fight.
Ali had now lost his bid to enlist the ministry into supporting the novelty bout as it was found to have acted on instruction from the Presidency, which had directed that it should not interfere in a matter over which another organisation has jurisdiction.
The situation had been made allegedly worse recently, when the boxer showed up at the ministry with a bag that he claimed contained N2 million, which he said was the balance left from a N15 million out of court settlement after paying his lawyers. Ali was advised to use the Remita platform if he was interested in making refunds to the government in line with the Treasury Single Account practice.