The House of Representatives Committee on Sports on Wednesday pledged to wade into the crisis over unpaid bonuses to national football team players by the Nigerian Football Federation.
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Sports, Ekene Abubakar stated this in Abuja at a meeting with the NFF at the National Assembly Complex on Wednesday.
The Committee and the Federation agreed to work together to find lasting solutions to the recurring issue of unpaid bonuses for all national teams.
When asked to explain the issues surrounding the non-payment of Super Falcons players in their recent World Cup outing, the federation president, Ibrahim Gusau said the money owed to the players will be paid as soon as grants from FIFA are received.
The committee chairman also charged the NFF to immediately resolve the issues regarding the two affected state Football Associations (Plateau and Nasarawa) where Normalisation Committees have been set up.
To resolve the issues, the committee urged the NFF to abide by the statutes saying, “What we are simply saying following petitions received from the two states’ Football Associations is that the federation should respect and go back to its statute to restore peace and order in Nigeria football.”
Meanwhile, the NFF president has assured the committee that all pending issues including elections into state FAs will be resolved within three weeks.
In a related development, the NFF informed the House Committee on Sports that it was still investigating Auwalu Jada who was suspended for non-football-related activities following an allegation of match-fixing.
The NFF, therefore, assured the sports committee that the Bauchi State-born football administrator will be given a fair hearing before a final decision is taken.
Recall that in November 2022, Jada was seen on tape boasting of his ability to fix matches in the Nigerian Professional Football League.
