The insinuation that the Nigeria Professional Football League club owners sacked the League Management Company was not just wrong it was totally misleading.
On Tuesday, after an expanded meeting of the LMC and the club owners, the news broke that the LMC had been dissolved by the club owners and the media began to cast their headlines.
A communique from the Club owners read this way
COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF AN EXPANDED MEETING OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE CLUB CHAIRMEN AND MANAGERS (CLUB OWNERS) HELD ON TUESDAY 29TH OCTOBER 2013 AT WESTPOINT HOTEL WUSE, ABUJA.
1.The meeting reviewed the just concluded 2012/2013 Glo-Premier league season and rated it average, just as it identified some flaws in certain areas like poor officiating, insecurity at the match venues, crowd violence as well as some administrative inconsistencies.
2.The meeting emphasized on the expiration of the tenure of the LMC in line with the terms of reference given to them by the NFF.
3.The meeting specially thanked the chairman and members of the LMC for their efforts in organizing the just concluded league as well as their several innovations and suggestions on the way forward and wished them well in their future endeavors.
4.The meeting re-echoed the need for immediate organization of election to usher in a substantive league board in line with relevant statutes governing football globally as stipulated in FIFA standard electoral codes and as affirmed by NFF in their letter to FIFA.
5.In order to avoid a vacuum, the outgoing LMC are to hand over to the secretariat of the league, who are to liaise with the present club owners executive pending the election of a substantive board.
6.The entire club owners congratulated Kano Pillars for winning the league back-to-back as Successive Champions, just as it welcomed the 4 newly promoted teams to the fold.
7.The meeting also directed the outgoing LMC to liaise with the board of Kano Pillars FC to ensure quick presentation of the league champion trophy.
8.The meeting commended the effort of the Golden Eaglet on the ongoing world cup and urged them to work hard to lift the trophy.
9.The meeting thanked the NFF for their support and wished Nigerians a successful qualification for the world cup.
Number 2 on the communique takes the words right out of my mouth as the Club owners did not dissolve the LMC but told them what they knew and what all Nigerians knew.
Their one year tenure had expired and they had to go.
Based on the one year tenure thing, it means they stopped existing on October 20, 2013.
But the question now, remains- Did the club owners have a right to do what they did? The answer is yes.
All they did was remind the LMC that their terms of reference said one year and it had expired. They, like every Nigerian on the streets had the right to do that.
Do the Club owners have the right to tell the LMC not to return?
No, they do not and this is very tricky.
The Nigeria Football Federation put the LMC in office, the NFF are part owners of the League, and the NFF "own" Nigerian football, so to say.
If the NFF, not because Aminu Maigari says it (he has no right to install the LMC on his own) but through its congress decide to have the LMC run Nigerian football for another year, then I believe the LMC will return.
The Club owners are also part of the congress of the NFF and can vote against it if they want but that is where the fate of the LMC will be sealed.
The congress can, at the next Annual General Assembly decide that the LMC should continue or go away for good.
Let us wait until then.
The Nigerian football drama never ends.