Vice Chairman, Imo State Football Association and pioneer member of the League Management Company, LMC, Barr. Ifeanyi Dike, has declared that the body running the affairs of Nigeria’s top flight league as colossal failure.
Speaking with Wakawaka Sports Extra, Barr. Dike said that the Shehu Dikko led LMC was in shambles accusing him of running the affairs of the league independently without considering the statutes that established it.
He went further to say that the Federal Government declaration of the LMC as illegal is not out of place noting that the court had no option but to declare it illegal.
His words: “The league is a failure under Shehu Dikko. It will be difficult, a situation where the league chairman is interested in NFF elections. Nigeria league will be restructured if they handover the administration of NFF to people that are grounded in this.
“If the Federal Government at the end of the day says League Management Company is not supposed to be existing based on the football rules says, then so shall it be because what we do not know is that some of these bodies set up most times do not look at the regulatory statutes that provides for the particular organisation on what they use to issue license.
“I am aware when I was in LMC that there was a licence from Nigeria Football Federation, NFF for LMC to operate which enabled LMC to register as a company under the CAC but incidentally I learnt that some group of people went to court to challenge the legality of LMC of which after the court looked at the enabling statutes and the law creating LMC.
“They now discovered that the formation of LMC was not proper. It was not done in accordance with the enabling laws. If such is the situation the court has no option to declare it as an illegal body.
“I am not surprised at that. When we were there, I could remember we came in as a child of circumstance when there was an issue between the leaders of the league – Ransome Baribote and some other staff. There was need for some people to come in and help them to reorganizing the league.
“The idea and the zeal of which LMC was formed, there was accountability. Even when we came in there was issues of TV Rights, sponsorship and the rest of them. LMC at that point tried to resolve those issues and forge ahead.
“But incidentally from 2015 till date instead of moving forward they now went several steps backward, desteuying the whole system, it is like one man affair where Shehu Dikko will take decision and impose it on others.
“Since Dikko has been there without considering what the statutes say.
The league leader who is the Chairman of the league must be a person among the club owners that must be voted by the club owners themselves.
“The implication is that about 20 members of these clubs will come together and vote one of them who will be the Chairman of the league.
Shehu Dikko is not a club owner. I don’t know where he is operating from ,his presence negates the rule book.
“The purpose of forming the LMC has been defeated because of the attitude of those running the league”
“There are match officials whose indemnities have not been paid since 2015 till date. You will get surprised. Now the questions is where are the monies for TV Rights, sponsorships that come into the league.”
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