 |
| Deputy Speaker ,Imo State House of Assembly now in charge of Heartland FC |
The ability
of the League Management Company (LMC) to protect its affiliate clubs against undue
government interference has been tested in Owerri on Tuesday as the Deputy
Speaker, Imo State House of Assembly and Chairman of the Task Force Committee
for Sports Facilities, Honourable Ugonna Ozuruigbo upstaged the
General Manager of Heartland Football Club of Owerri, Prince Okey Ibeh by personally
taking over the management of the team.
Ozuruigbo who was
appointed the task force committee chairman few weeks ago by Governor
Rochas Okorocha on Tuesday, commandeered Heartland team to Nnewi for the match
against FC Ifeanyi Uba with fund said to be released by the government but
without the knowledge of the general manager and most members of his management
team.
Since his
appointment as the committee chairman for sports facilities and in the absence
of a sitting commissioner for sports, the deputy speaker is said to have held
several nocturnal meetings seeking for a way to remove the general manager and
some members of his team without reason and without provocation but all to no
avail.
In one of
such meetings, he was said to have consulted the Vice Chairman of Imo State FA, Sir
Emma Ochiagha who advised him to follow laid down procedure in other not to
incur the wrath of both the LMC and the Nigeria Football Association (NFF)
whose laws prohibit arbitrary interference by government appointees.
Ochiagha was
said to have told him that the only way the LMC and NFF would accept the
removal of club officials before the
expiration of their contracts was if the officials were found guilty of serious
wrong-doing such as embezzlement of fund.
Following
this, the deputy speaker was said to have demanded for the financial records of
the club and also ordered a verification of all the staff including the
players. While the management has
complied with the request for staff nominal list and financial records, they
pleaded for time up to Friday this week to enable them bring everybody to the
verification venue as they had a midweek game with FC Ifeanyi Uba in Nnewi on
Wednesday.
But because the
deputy speaker was said to have sworn to remove the general manager and being
aware that the task force which he chairs have very limited time before it would
be dissolved and commissioners appointed,
decided to act fast by ‘pulling the rug off the general manager’s feet.’
Although
,Governor Rochas Okorocha was said not to be fully aware of the
activities of the deputy speaker in the team in the last couple of weeks, OZuruigbo
was alleged to have gotten the governors mere audience after he must have fed
him with unsubstantiated allegations against the general manager and the
immediate past Commissioner of Sports in the State, Comrade Kenneth Emelu who
was generally believed to be in the governors list to return as commissioner.
Sources from
the Imo State Ministry of Sports Tuesday confirmed that the deputy speaker had
opened another bank account in the club’s name with which he was able to draw
the money released to Heartland for the trip to Nnewi.
Also,
rumours are rife in Owerri and environs that the deputy speaker who began life
as dealer agent with one of the telecommunications companies in the country was
actually paving way for his eventual buy over of Heartland FC under the planned
government’s concessions policy on all agencies and parastatals in the state.
He was said to
have registered a new company with which he intends to buy over Heartland and
also already gotten a design to acquire and rebuild the Dan Anyiam Stadium in
Owerri as private property.
No comments:
Post a Comment