NPL In Staff Salaries Debt Saga

The Nigeria Premier League (NPL) is angry at media reports especially on the electronic section that it is owing its staff salary arrears of four months.
It has been a recurrent report in one of the radio stations based in Lagos that the Premier League board has run short of cash in paying its staff after the end of the season in the league campaign on June 14.
Our correspondent spoke to a staff of the NPL on condition of anonymity but the staff did not want to disclose or affirm if the reports were true or not.
When chairman of the Premier League board, Oyuki Obaseki, was called on his return from South Africa last week to clarify the situation, he simply denied that his board was owing staff up to four months’ pay.
Obaseki was livid at such reports and described them as misleading and challenged the architects of such to come out and prove their claims.
“I am shocked that people are going about saying that the NPL is owing staff four months salaries. My staff are like sons and daughters to me and I have never held up their salaries for four months before, and I will never do that. In my life I have never had a problem paying those that work for me because a labourer deserves his or her wages when it is due.
“Instead of people to mind their businesses and also look at avenues to improve the league in Nigeria, they want to draw us back. Let me tell those mischief-makers that their mischief would not unsettle us because my target is to make the Nigeria Premier League the best in Africa and the best among other leagues in the world. Like they say, Rome was not built in a day, but we are giving our best to make things change.
“When I came on board, the Nigerian league was not like this. Things have changed and gradually I believe we will get there. For the Nigerian league to be rated as third best in Africa tells you that we are doing a good job. We may have a few problems here or there, but that is not enough for people to start carrying false reports to misinform the public about happenings in the Premier League board,” a miffed Obaseki said.