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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has said Nigeria did not apologise to the Libyan authorities over the detention of Super Eagles in Libya.
Tuggar said on October 15, the Libya Observer published an erroneous report to gain political leverage and cause disaffection among continental football administrators and fans.
He said the publication, which misrepresented the phone correspondence he had with the East-based Government’s Foreign Minister, was a clear case of misinformation.
“The fact of the matter is that the CDA (Charge d’Affaires) of the Government of National Unity was summoned to the ministry to seek an immediate end to the unfortunate incident. However, not much diplomatic headway was made during the meeting with the acting Charge d’Affaires, Imad Mohammed Matooq Aboud, as they insisted it was not under the jurisdiction of Tripoli, which they represented, but that of the Eastern Government in Benghazi.
“This prompted the minister to take immediate action by contacting the Foreign Minister of the Eastern Government, Abdelhadi Lahweej, to intervene and ensure the detention ended. After that, the aircraft was given the necessary permits to fly, and aviation fuel was accessed.”
Abdulkadir further explained that both ministers agreed the matter should be de-escalated immediately.
“Even when Lahweej insisted on rehashing untruth about the treatment of Libyan players in Nigeria, Tuggar, once again, corrected the misinformation about the mistreatment of Libyan players during the Nigerian encounter. He did not apologise or regret the treatment of Libyan officials and players because the account was inaccurate.
“Lahweej proposed a joint statement, which the ministry rejected because it erroneously misrepresented the facts of the incident. Above all, the Federal Government of Nigeria only shares a diplomatic relationship with the government of the National Accord and not with the Eastern government,” Abdulkadir said.
He added that Nigeria remains unequivocal in expressing its displeasure and disappointment with how the Nigerian Football Federation officials were treated in Libya and called on the Confederation of African Football to urgently ensure its disciplinary board investigates the matter and imposes appropriate sanctions based on its statutes.
