Tony Elumelu Considering Owning NPFL Club

Chairman of United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu has noted that it is not a bad idea to own a club side in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).

Tony Elumelu who is one of the most famous billionaires in Nigeria is known for a series of charitable gestures but he is not known to be affiliated with any professional football club in the country.

Most of the NPFL clubs are owned by state governments and are hardly able to compete with most clubs in Africa due to poor funding and poor management.

Hence, there have been calls for the private sector to get involved with the league by owning clubs as a form of Corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme.

Recently, one X user, LawyerDayo took to the social media platform to write: “Can we get the President and Ministry of Sport to weigh in on the big corporations in Nigeria to buy at least one league club as part of CSR? Imagine Dangote buys Kano Pillars, BUA buys Kwara United, Elumelu acquires Rivers United, and Geregu takes over 3SC. Imagine the competition.”

In response to the post, Tony Elumelu wrote on X that the Federal Government, through the Sports Minister, Senator John Enoh, has discussed a similar idea with him. He said the parties involved are currently studying the possibilities of such a move.

The Nigerian billionaire wrote, “This is a nice idea. The Sports Minister, Senator John Enoh @OwanEnoh, is already thinking along this line and has approached me and we are already evaluating viability.”