The President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, on Wednesday in Abuja, inaugurated the new Board of Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) with the mandate to make the apex domestic league more attractive for sponsors.
The newly inaugurated board replaces the Interim Management Committee (IMC) in administrating the organization and promotion of the Nigerian top-flight club football division.
In his opening remarks at the inauguration of the elected members of the NPFL in Abuja, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau charged the new NPFL board members to reposition the league.
The NFF President disclosed that the board has a 2-year tenure to take the league to the next level. Ibrahim Gusau also clarified the status of 3 representatives of the club on the board, stating that any club chairman who loses his position as chairman of his club ceases to be a member of the board, Complete Sports reports.
Gusau reminded the NPFL board that their appointment is based on their track record of success, which must be replicated in the league.
“I charge you to do more as your first tenure as Interim Manage Committee, IMC, was commendable. For the first time, NPFL Champions got N100m. I urge you to do more to attract more sponsors,“ the NFF President stressed.
Gusau assured the board members of maximum support and urged them to roll out policies to grow the league.
According to the Peoples Gazette, Gusau, during the inauguration, advised the board to take club licensing requirements as a priority.
“Club licensing is a fundamental football development trajectory that the new Board must take very seriously.
“Therefore, I charge the new Board to set a target which must be met by all clubs as prerequisite for participation in the league.
“I also want you to set a percentage compliance on club licensing requirements for each club so that every season you can measure the extent of adherence by each club,” he said.
On the issue of change of name, he insisted that the option must be tabled before the Congress of the NFF for approval and for all necessary processes undertaken for a change to take effect.
The board is made up of: the Chairman of the NPFL, Gbenga Elegbeleye, Mohammed Sa’idu (Member), Poubeni Ogun (Member), Daniel Amokachi (Member), Okey Kpalukwu (Member), Suleiman Umar (Member) and Dominic Iorfa (Member).
Others are the secretary/legal adviser, Danlami Ibrahim; chief operating officer, Davidson Owumi, and Philip Shaibu (Deputy Governor, Edo State).
The new board also includes Emmanuel Ikpeme (NFF deputy general secretary), Charity Kadiri (NFF director of finance and admin), and Augustine Eguavoen (technical director).
The rest are Yohanna Mathias (deputy director, audit), Robinson Okosun (deputy director, technical), Ayo Abdulrahman (deputy director, competitions), Danlami Alanana (deputy director, competitions), Barnabas Joro (deputy director, protocol) and Nelson Ine (representative of GTI).
The new NPFL board has a two-year tenure, the same as the boards of the Nigeria National League (NNL), Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL), and the Nigeria Nation-Wide League One (NNWL) inaugurated recently.
Recall that The IMC took the reins of the NPFL after the Federal Government scrapped the League Management Company (LMC) in 2022, TheCable reports.
The sports ministry had declared LMC an “illegal” institution and not recognized by the government.
In replacement, the IMC organized the 2022/23 abridged league, which was won by Enyimba last month.
