The American coaches and their
Nigerian counterparts attached to the elite sports programme funded by
the Sports Ministry have threatened to sue, after they were paid two
weeks salary out of the 11 months outstanding owed them.
The coaches Angie Taylor, Eric Campbell, Michael Afilaka and Gabriel
Okon were expecting a substantial part of their outstanding salary to be
paid before Christmas. But to their dismay only two weeks pay was
transferred into their accounts on Tuesday January 3, 2017.
Solomon Dalung in Rio
The coaches were contracted in 2012 by former Sports Minister, Bolaji
Abdulahi to run an elite programme that will put Nigerian sports back
to world reckoning. The contract was renewed by current Sports Minister
Solomon Dalung last year, since then they have not been paid a dime.
Their contracts will expire next month.
One of the coaches who spoke yesterday stated that life has been difficult.
“We were told that at least half of the 11 months would paid before
Christmas and we did submit our bank accounts only for us to find out it
was only two weeks out the 11 months.
“I want Nigerians to know that we are not crying out because of the
money. We are insisting on getting paid because provision has been made
for the settlement of our salary,” said Campbell.
“It is because of corruption that the ministry is withholding our
money. It has nothing to do with recession, we do know that monies have
been allocated to the sports ministry.
“I gathered from the people in the ministry that there is a whole lot
of files to be attended to and ours was not a priority. We may be
forced to take legal action to retrieve our dues if it is not settled
before the contract expires.”
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