After Super Falcons protest, Buhari orders payment of allowances in 24 hours
said on Wednesday in Abuja. The Falcons had earlier on Wednesday embarked on a protest march against the non-payment of their allowances by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
The footballers, who won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, AWCON, for the
eighth time in Cameroon,binitially refused to leave their hotel rooms at Agura Hotel in Abuja.
They had, upon returning from the competition whichvthey won on December 3, been waiting for the payment at the hotel where they were
accommodated by the NFF. But on Wednesday they staged a protest march,
carrying various placards with inscriptions along the roads between the National Assembly and the secretariat gate of the Presidential Villa.
The protest was planned to coincide with the appearance of President Muhammadu Buhari who was scheduled to present the 2017 budget to
the National Assembly on
Wednesday. Speaking later, the Chief of
Staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari, told State House correspondents on
Wednesday that the issue had
been resolved.
He said government had since directed appropriate authorities to settle the
players’ allowances and bonuses.
“The problem has been resolved. They
have done us proud and we congratulated them. The Ministries ofbSports and Finance have been directed to pay tomorrow (Thursday).
“I don’t know the details of the arrears.
But they have been directed to pay,” the
presidential aide said. Mr. Kyari, who earlier spoke with the players on Wednesday during their protest march to the Aso Rock Villa gate, urged them to return to their hotelrooms. He assured them that their outstanding payment would be settled within 24 hours.
The players, led by team captain Rita
Chikwelu, had during the protest
expressed their displeasure at the non-
payment of their allowances and
bonuses.
Also, the Senate Committee on Sports on
Wednesday in Abuja assured the Super
Falcons of payment of their outstanding
allowances.
Chairman of the committee, Obinna
Ogba, told the players that the Senate
was committed to ensuring that their
allowances were paid.
The meeting with the Falcons followed a protest march staged by the Falcons
requesting payment of their outstanding allowances. “Let me inform you that my Committee has been mandated to investigate activities of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with regards to the face-off.
“I assure you that having made the
nation proud, you will be paid.”
Also speaking, Samuel Anyanwu, a
member of the committee, expressed
dissatisfaction with the manner the
players were treated, and called for
patience to enable the Committee to step in.
“I feel very hurt at the behaviour of the
NFF, which should have been better in
view of your feat. You should be patient
and guard your utterances so that we
can do something about this case.
“The Senate will investigate activities of
NFF, because this type of issue has been
a recurring decimal in the federation,’’
he added.
In her remarks, captain of the Falcons,
Rita Chikwelu, lamented that the NFF did not treat them well when playing in
Cameroon during the 2016 Women’s
Africa Cup of Nations.
Explaining their ordeal, she said they
were ordered out of the hotel at Douala
in Cameroon the very night they won the competition.
She said this led them to sleeping at the
airport with the competition’s trophy
they won by beating hosts Cameroon 1-0 on December 3.
“Officials of NFF did not encourage us at
all in Cameroon. We never saw the NFF
President (Amaju Pinnick) and General
Secretary (Mohammed Sanusi) in
Yaounde when we played in the semi-
finals.
“Surprisingly, we saw them in the crowd at Douala where we played the final match and having won that night they asked us to leave.”
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