In a bid for more private sector involvement in sports, the sports ministry has approached wealthy Nigerians including Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote and Tony Elumelu to buy clubs in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
This is a nice idea 👍🏽.
— Tony O. Elumelu, CFR (@TonyOElumelu) April 8, 2024
The Sports Minister, Senator John Enoh @OwanEnoh, is already thinking along this line and has approached me and we are already evaluating viability. https://t.co/egXKD12RPC
Owner of top Nigerian bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Elumelu, for one, has acknowledged the approach.
He further said his organisation is looking at the viability of such a project.
“The Sports Minister, Senator John Enoh @OwanEnoh, is already thinking along this line and has approached me and we are already evaluating viability,” philanthropist and “Africapitalist” Elumelu replied to a post on X
It is also known that Dangote has long been linked with buying a stake at Premier League club Arsenal.
He recently financially supported the Super Eagles 2023 AFCON campaign.
“Football and sports is business and we can’t be in situation where we cannot benefit from that as a country,” said Sports Minister Enoh.
“It has worked elsewhere and it can also work in Nigeria.”
Currently, only three of the 20 top professional clubs in Nigeria are privately owned as the majority of these clubs is financed by state governments.
They have not been known to make profits as they are not run professionally.
