The vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Datti Baba-Ahmed, says if he and Peter Obi are elected into office in February, their administration will take sports, especially football, seriously.
Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles, were knocked out of the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon in 2022 and failed to make it to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, losing the spot to Ghana.
Baba-Ahmed spoke during an appearance alongside the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on The Peoples Townhall, a live event organised by Channels Television and its partners on Sunday.
He said they would ensure that Nigeria wins the Nations Cup as well as participate in every World Cup.
“I will plead with Mr President to see that whoever is in charge of sports will see that we move mountains to bring the African Cup to Nigeria. There is no way the World Cup will be played without Nigeria. Nigeria has passed that; it will never happen again by the grace of God,” Baba-Ahmed vowed.
To deliver on the promise of winning the Nations Cup and qualifying for World Cup, the Labour Party vice presidential candidate said his and Obi’s administration would see to it that people who represent Nigeria in sports are never owed salaries and allowances.
“This is entertainment – sport is entertainment – and then we are going to proliferate with infrastructure and [the] reward [will be] coming to the participants.
“Never will salaries or allowances of Nigerian players be delayed by one hour. We will be there to ensure they are compensated, link them with industries and companies and raise their profiles internationally,” Baba-Ahmed added.