Follow Us on Google
The National Sports Commission (NSC) has disputed Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi’s account of being prevented from meeting Nigeria’s U-17 women’s football team, the Flamingos, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Obi had alleged that he was stopped from celebrating with the players after officials reportedly warned his protocol team that they could lose their jobs if they allowed him to approach the team.
However, the NSC chairman, Shehu Dikko, said officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) who received the team at the airport gave a different account of the incident.
In a statement on Monday, Dikko said the officials reported that they neither saw Obi around the players nor noticed him near the international terminal where the Flamingos arrived.
According to him, two individuals wearing Obi’s campaign face caps and other campaign materials approached the officials to request that the former governor meet and take photographs with the players.
He said the officials declined the request because there was no prior arrangement for such an interaction and the players were tired after their journey from Morocco.
“The players had just arrived early that morning on an Air Maroc flight at about 5.30 a.m. and were tired after their journey and a demanding competition,” the statement read.
“The officials exercised their judgment in declining the sudden meeting and photograph request at that time, taking account of the players’ welfare and the circumstances of the request and without any prior notice of any arrangement for airport reception for the team.
“Nothing in the account provided by the officials supports the suggestion that their jobs were at risk.”
Dikko also dismissed the suggestion that Obi was deliberately denied access to the team, saying airport officials and passengers celebrated the players without discrimination based on political affiliation.
He maintained that Obi was not captured near the team or around the international wing of the airport during their arrival, which was covered by the media.
The NSC chairman expressed displeasure over Obi’s decision to present the incident as an act of political intimidation without first seeking clarification from the commission or the NFF.
He accused the former governor of turning an unscheduled request to meet the players into a political controversy, thereby shifting attention away from the Flamingos’ achievement.
“These young champions should not be drawn into that controversy and never deserved this from Mr. Obi,” he said.
Dikko urged Obi, who is the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), to apologise to the players for what he described as actions and public statements that had overshadowed their moment of celebration.
He further stressed that the Flamingos are minors and have a designated safeguarding official within their technical crew to protect their welfare and ensure that interactions with them comply with established regulations.
According to him, no individual or political group should use young athletes to suggest support or allegiance to any political party.
The NSC chairman also highlighted the team’s journey to the World Cup final, noting that it followed more than seven months of preparation, training, qualifying matches, the WAFU tournament and the competition in Morocco.
While acknowledging Obi’s congratulatory messages during the later stages of the competition, Dikko said national teams required consistent support throughout their preparation, competitions and development, rather than only when they achieved success.
He advised Obi and other Nigerians interested in meeting or hosting the Flamingos to submit formal requests to the NFF or NSC so that appropriate arrangements could be made around the players’ schedules and welfare.
Meanwhile, Dikko also challenged Obi’s account of being prevented from visiting the Super Eagles in the dressing room after Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying match against Zimbabwe in Uyo on March 25, 2025.
He explained that the players had declined to receive visitors after the match, which ended unfavourably for Nigeria, because they wanted to hold an immediate meeting among themselves.
The NSC chairman said he sat in the same row with Obi and some governors during the match, adding that no dignitary or football official, including himself and senior NFF officials, visited the players afterwards.
He also cited FIFA regulations restricting access to dressing rooms to accredited individuals or persons authorised through the football federation.
