The Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Bukola Olopade, has challenged former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi’s account of an alleged attempt to prevent him from greeting Nigeria’s victorious Flamingos at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Olopade disputed Obi’s claim that officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) stopped him from welcoming the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup champions following their return from Morocco, questioning the circumstances surrounding the alleged incident.
Obi had raised the issue in a statement issued on Monday titled A New Dimension of Toxic Politics in Nigeria, alleging that NFF officials prevented him from approaching the players at the airport.
The former governor said he arrived at the airport around 7 a.m. to board an Enugu-bound flight when he noticed the returning team.
He subsequently instructed his Protocol Officer, Jackie Wayas, to establish whether he could greet the players. However, he claimed his aide informed him that NFF officials had objected to his approach.
Olopade rejected the account, arguing that the team’s arrival arrangements made Obi’s claim questionable.
According to the NSC chief, the Flamingos landed at approximately 5:30 a.m., when it was still dark, and domestic flight check-in activities had not commenced.
“The plane landed at 5:30 a.m. It was still very dark. No local flight was checking in at that time. Even if they were checking in, there was no way Obi would have seen those children from where he was at the local airport,” Olopade said.
He added that the players completed immigration procedures before leaving through the international airport’s underground exit, further questioning how Obi could have encountered them.
The NSC director-general also challenged Obi’s account of an alleged similar experience during Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in March 2025.
Olopade maintained that FIFA-organised matches operate under established security and access protocols, which prevent unauthorised individuals from approaching players in restricted areas.
“In Uyo, for those who know FIFA-organised matches, you cannot say because you are Obi or anyone else, you want to go and see the players in their dressing room. There are protocols,” he said.
He further accused the former governor of contradicting his advocacy for orderliness and good governance.
“This is a man who says he wants to govern on orderliness, yet he is being disorderly,” Olopade added.
Beyond the disagreement, the NSC boss warned against allowing political arguments to overshadow the Flamingos’ historic achievement.
He insisted that the controversy should not diminish the recognition and celebration the young players deserve after their triumph in Morocco.
“We should stop all this nonsense. Everything should not be about politics. He cannot take away the glory of these girls,” he said.
Obi had described the alleged airport experience and the earlier Uyo incident as manifestations of what he called toxic politics in Nigeria. He also expressed concern about the country’s political climate.
The disagreement has introduced a political dimension to the celebrations surrounding the Flamingos, whose historic World Cup triumph has attracted nationwide recognition.
