Flying Eagles coach John Obuh added a new twist to the unfolding drama at the Nigeria Football Federation, when he declared that the NFF is owing him salary arrears of 13 months covering the period of December 2009 to December 2010.

Obuh came to limelight with his exploits with the Under-17 team and also the Under-20 squad, which he led to the quarter-final of the last FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia.

“They owe me the money, I’ve been demanding for it but no one is interested in sorting it out for me.

“It’s inexplicable that they paid me from January 2011 to August 2011 but they failed to pay all through my first year in the job.”

Flying Eagles coach John Obuh

“I’ve been verbally asked to continue as the under-20 coach but no one is saying anything about the backlog owed,” said the coach.

NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire attributed the possible delay in payment to a ‘mix-up’ or ‘misunderstanding’ in administrative paperwork.

“That’s really unfortunate to hear but I suspect there is a misunderstanding somewhere for part of his payment to be missing.

“The NFF technical department as well as the secretary-general are always on top of issues relating to this.

“There is a proper channel if he wants to deal with us directly. He must let us know, through a written process and not in the media,” said Olajire.