The Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, has accused two men who claimed to be former Anambra State governor Peter Obi’s protocol officers of breaching security procedures while attempting to meet Nigeria’s Under-17 women’s football team, the Flamingos, at the airport.
Olopade, however, said officials of the Nigeria Football Federation and the NSC did not see Obi at the airport when the team returned from Morocco on Saturday.
Speaking in an interview with News Central on Tuesday, he said the two men approached officials while the players were being escorted into buses after an overnight flight.
He said the men asked officials to allow someone to meet the players, describing the approach as a breach of security arrangements put in place to protect the team.
Olopade did not establish the identities of the two men or independently confirm that they were acting on Obi’s behalf.
“With all due respect, Mr Obi, I’ve asked officials across from the NFF, including the NSC officials, did you see Mr Obi? They said no. They saw two men who said they were protocol,” he said.
He explained that the players and officials were exhausted after their flight and were being assisted into buses when the two men approached them.
“These young women and the officials were tired. People were ferrying them into the bus. Two strangers came, which is against security rules as to protect players, came from nowhere, went into their midst to go and ask that somebody wanted to come and see them,” he said.
The NSC chief maintained that even if the men were acting on Obi’s behalf, they should have followed the appropriate procedures before attempting to approach the players.
“But even if those two gentlemen were there, it was a breach of security. It was a breach of protocol and you cannot just on your own do things,” he said.
Olopade also said he questioned the NFF General Secretary and other officials about whether they saw Obi around the international airport, adding that they all denied seeing him or the two men.
He said, “I asked the general secretary of NFF if his people saw Mr Obi parked around the international airport and everyone, including my special assistant on NUGU matters and my director of feed and director of grassroots, whoever, everyone said they did not see Mr Obi anywhere around the vicinity and they didn’t even see those two gentlemen.”
Obi had alleged that NFF officials prevented him from greeting the Flamingos when they returned to Nigeria after winning the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
In a statement on Monday titled, ‘A New Dimension of Toxic Politics in Nigeria’, the former governor said he arrived at the airport at about 7am to board a flight to Enugu when he sighted the team.
He said he asked his protocol officer, Jackie Wayas, to find out whether he could greet and welcome the players but was informed that NFF officials had refused his request.
Obi alleged that the officials warned that they could lose their jobs if they allowed him to approach the players, describing the incident as another example of what he called the growing culture of toxic politics in Nigeria.
He also recalled a similar experience after Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Zimbabwe in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on March 25, 2025.
Obi said he was prevented from greeting the Super Eagles players after the match, while other government officials were allowed to meet them. He said he was told that officials would lose their jobs if he proceeded.
The controversy attracted reactions from the Presidency, the NSC and other sports administrators.
The NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, had earlier rejected Obi’s account, saying officials who received the Flamingos did not see the former governor near the players or around the international terminal.
In a statement titled, ‘NSC Responds to Peter Obi: Flamingos’ World Cup Victory Must Not Be Politicised’, Dikko said two individuals wearing Obi’s campaign face caps and other campaign attire approached officials to request a meeting and photographs with the players.
He said the request was declined because it was sudden, there had been no prior arrangement and the players needed to rest after their journey and a demanding competition.
Dikko also said the proposed meeting could have involved campaign materials, adding that nothing in the officials’ account supported Obi’s claim that their jobs were threatened.
He explained that the Flamingos arrived at about 5:30am aboard an Air Maroc flight and that passengers and other Nigerians at the international terminal were allowed to celebrate with the players.
According to him, people took photographs, danced and shook hands with the team as they made their way to their buses.
Dikko said the commission took exception to Obi’s decision to portray the incident as political intimidation without first seeking clarification from the NSC or the NFF.
He urged the former governor to apologise to the players, saying their achievement should not be overshadowed by the controversy.
The NSC chairman also defended the restrictions on access to the team, noting that the players were minors and had a designated safeguarding officer responsible for their protection.
He said interactions with the players, including photograph sessions, should be properly arranged to protect their welfare and prevent them from being used to suggest allegiance to any political party.
The Presidency also faulted Obi’s account, with the Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, accusing the former governor of attempting to politicise national sports teams and institutions.
Olusegun said national athletes represented the entire country and not any political party or individual ambition.
He argued that established protocols were designed to protect young athletes from political exploitation, commercial distractions and unnecessary media attention while on official assignments.
Similarly, the Director-General of the National Institute for Sports, Philip Shaibu, said Obi could have stood at the airport and waved at the players like other Nigerians.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Tuesday, the former Edo State deputy governor said the support given to athletes before and during competitions was more important than seeking to celebrate them after winning.
“You know, the President will not play to the gallery. And the First Lady will not play to the gallery. Going to the airport to want to see them is playing to the gallery, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Shaibu, however, said the Flamingos deserved to be celebrated and praised President Bola Tinubu for personally communicating with the players during the competition.
When asked whether the NFF officials were right to prevent Obi from welcoming the team, he said, “Mr Obi can stand at the airport and wave to them like every other person did.”
He added that sports teams sometimes had instructions restricting players from interacting with people while travelling and that such arrangements should be respected.
Responding to the controversy, Olopade also recalled an earlier encounter with Obi at a football event in Uyo, where he said he personally stopped the former governor from proceeding towards the players’ dressing room without accreditation.
He said he explained to Obi that access beyond the designated mid-zone was restricted to individuals with the required accreditation, irrespective of their status.
“I was the one who put Mr Obi to the side and politely and respectfully explained to him that in the Egypt that he likes to mention, in the China that he likes to mention, he dare not go beyond the mid-zone from his VIP seat to say he wants to go into the dressing room of the players without accreditation. They would have arrested him and put him away,” he said.
Olopade added that he had advised Obi against attempting to access players’ dressing rooms without authorisation.
“I told him politely, ‘Sir, you do not have accreditation to go beyond. This place is called the mid-zone. If you do not have accreditation, you cannot go there’,” he said.
He also disputed Obi’s account of the Uyo incident, insisting that the Akwa Ibom State governor did not visit the dressing room on that occasion.
Dikko had also addressed the 2025 incident, saying no dignitary or official, including himself and the governors present, visited the Super Eagles dressing room because the players wanted to hold an immediate meeting after their 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe.
He said access to the dressing room was governed by FIFA accreditation and security regulations, which applied to all visitors.
Olopade accused some individuals of turning the airport incident into a political controversy, saying it was distracting from the team’s achievement.
“There is a political controversy that has been caused by people who do not love this country. What happened on Saturday in Morocco was a good PR for this country, was a good story for this country and I insist that we should deliberate more on the positives that happened in Morocco and celebrate these superheroes,” he said.
He added, “We should celebrate our superstars.”
The Flamingos defeated Japan 2-1 in Saturday’s final in Morocco to win Nigeria’s first FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup title, becoming the first African country to win the competition.
