Broadcast Right owners of the Nigeria Premier League, Total Promotions has appealed to the Minister of Sports and Chairman National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Adbullahi over the purported cancellation of the contract it signed with the NPL which runs till 2015.
Chairman of the broadcast outfit, Niyi Alonge told pressmen in Lagos yesterday that he was shocked by the action of the Interim League Management Committee to cancel an existing contract without any recourse to the laws of the land especially under a democratic regime.
“I was told that the minister was not happy that Total Promotions asked for an outright buy-out of the Title Rights but I am still standing on my promises to him that I am not fixated about the Title rights. I willingly surrendered it to Globacom but asked for a buy-out,” Alonge said. “I did not renege on handing over the right to Globacom but as a commercial outfit we were merely asking for settlement after we had spent so much sponsoring the league in the last two years.
“I am still confused about the actions of the Interim Committee but we are studying the situation. One thing they do not want to know is the fact that Total Promotions had already committed over N40 million to the 2012/2013 league season, even when the season has not started. The minister is aware of this spending. They should check their records. What they are trying to do now is to shift the goalpost when a match had started. That will certainly run foul of the rules.
“I am appealing to the minister to use his good office to intervene before the matter snowball into litigation. Total Promotions has spent so much to keep the Nigerian league even at such a time when people said the league was worthless. Total Promotions had kept the league running for two years, paying the salaries of the NPL workers and other sundry expenses of the secretariat.
“I know that the minister has a large heart and he will not allow Total Promotions to go under.”
Alonge revealed that he has made frantic efforts to reach the minister in the last two weeks through several phone calls, text messages and e-mail but to no avail as he appeals to the Minister that? jaw-jaw will help a lot in resolving this matter. “On our part, we shall exploit every available means to end this matter peacefully”, he said.
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