NFF owes national teams despite FG’s N17b grant, CAF $4m largesse

Nigeria’s quest to make any appreciable impact in the 2025 football calendar may hit the rocks after reports emerged that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is still owing all the national team coaches and players backlogs of unpaid salaries and winning bonuses running into billions.

The Guardian’s reliable source at the Sunday Dankaro House exclusively revealed on Monday that players and officials of the Super Eagles, Super Falcons, Flying Eagles, and Golden Eaglets have not received their outstanding bonuses, even after President Bola Tinubu released N17 billion to the NFF to offset the debt.

In line with his Renewed Hope Agenda, President Bola Tinubu released N12 billion to the NFF in January to help the country’s soccer governing body clear all outstanding payments owed to the Super Eagles and other sporting teams. The funds were released by the presidency to offset senior national team coach salaries running up to 15 months, allowance payments, and promises due to men’s and women’s senior and junior national teams.

The Presidency later released another N5 billion to the NFF, while the Confederation of African Football (CAF) paid $4 million into the NFF’s coffers for Nigeria’s silver-winning performance at the AFCON 2023 held in Côte d’Ivoire.

However, the NFF is yet to settle the backlog of outstanding salaries and bonuses owed to national team players and officials, raising fears of a likely revolt from Super Eagles and Super Falcons players. The players have bitterly complained about their unpaid bonuses, while NFF executives reportedly earn their monthly salaries and receive substantial estacode for trips.

A top football stakeholder, who pleaded anonymity, exclusively told The Guardian that the billions from the