It’s D day for Baribote

BY JACOB AJOM
Will he survive this? That is the question on the lips of watchers of Nigerian football as Victor Rumson Baribote, the re-instated chairman of the Nigeria Premier League board tries to reassert his position before the 7th Congress of the body in Abuja today.

Events in the last two weeks have not given the Bayelsa State-born football administrator any peace of mind. It all started with the coming together of 18 club chairmen who purportedly impeached him as NPL Chairman.

An interim board was set up with Mike Idoko of Sunshine Stars elected as Acting Chairman.

But the Nigeria Football Federation upturned the impeachment and reinstated Baribote.

The NFF in its communiqué reasoned that the purported dissolution of the NPL board was done without recourse to the Statutes of the NPL, and, particularly, described the meeting as not properly convened to deliberate on such a serious constitutional matter

Subsequently, the NFF fixed the congress for today.

According to the media officer of theNigeriaPremier League, Emma Njoku, Acting Executive Secretary, Tunji Babalola who confirmed this in a letter dated 8th of December, 2012 and sent to the Chairmen of all the Premier League clubs said that delegates for the Congress were expected to arriveAbujayesterday.

Babalola, however, could not confirm the venue of the Congress in the letter but promised to communicate same to the delegates as soon as the venue became certain.