The Proprietor of Prince FC, Ekiti, Prince Isaiah Igben, has slammed the Nationwide League One for not registering his team for this season, claiming that the league body was trying to deny him his right.
In a statement he personally signed and sent to SportingSun, Prince Igben accused the Executive Secretary of the NLO, Sola Ogunnowo of substituting his team, Prince FC, which he claimed is affiliated to Ekiti FA, with a none-existing team, Confluence Stars.
According to him, he bought the slot of Kogi United which was relegated to the NLO but transferred to Choice FC of Igueben, saying that after Choice FC decided not to participate in the league, he registered to his personal club, Prince FC and was affiliated to Ekiti FA.
“I was the intermediary between Kogi Utd and the buyer but after sending the documents to NLO, Choice FC withdrew and I change the name to Prince FC and immediately affiliated to Ekiti FA.
To my shock, when the fixtures were released I didn’t see my team but a non-existing Confluence Stars.
I complained to Sola only for him to tell me that I didn’t formalize the registration before the fixtures,” Prince Igben claimed.
However, when contacted, the NLO Secretary said Prince Igben was only blackmailing him because as at the time the fixtures were drawn, Ekiti FA denied any team like Prince FC on their list.
“He had months to prepare his documents and forward to the NLO but I only got to know of his team after the fixtures had been drawn. Registration closed in February and was further extended for two weeks but we didn’t get anything from him. He only came after the fixtures had been drawn,” Ogunnowo clarified.