In a personal note to the Head of Operations of the IMC, Davison Owumi, which was sighted by our correspondent, the Chairman of Total Promotions, Niyi Alonge, recalled how the title rights were awarded to his company in 2012 and rebuked the IMC for continually disregarding court orders ahead of the start of the new season.

“In line with the Procurement Act, you as chairman of the NFLL at the time advertised in the  newspapers inviting interested parties to bid for the Premier Leagues title rights, unlike the partner and not sponsor who you brought now and foisted on the public with total disregard for corporate decency procurement procedures that demand a prior public open tender and bidding.

“If you persist in ignoring a judgement of the court, which ordered perpetual injunction against interfering in execution of TPNL broadcast rights, which the LMC (now defunct) refused to comply with and instead filed an appeal on or about 2014 and proudly abandoned it till date, then hold yourself for this personal breach,” Alonge warned.

While the IMC has also approached the Nigeria Television Authority for the broadcast of the league, Total Promotions had earlier written to both parties, warning them of the legal implications of broadcasting the league, while it still had the title and broadcast rights.

Meanwhile, the IMC, in partnership with GTI Group on Thursday gave N200m to 20 clubs in the topflight league ahead of the kick-off of the 2022/2023 league season, The PUNCH reports.

The public presentation was held in Abuja with each club getting N10m as take-off grant for the new season, which begins on Sunday.

According to the IMC chairman, Gbenga Elegbeleye, the collaboration was facilitated with the endorsement of the Nigeria Football Federation for a rebirth of the league in order to gradually address the fundamental challenges facing the development of football leagues in the country over the years.

The Group Managing Director of GTI, Abubakar Lawal, explained further that the NPFL had been transformed into a unique national asset that created an opportunity for the stakeholders and the public to earn good returns on their respective sponsorships and investments in the league through the Nigeria Football Federation Fund.

InsideNews247.com had earlier reported that the NFF and the IMC had secured a 10-year partnership deal worth N10bn with GTI Group.

The deal, according to the GMD of GTI Group, Abubakar Lawal, will cover title sponsorship, broadcast rights, match officials’ indemnities, infrastructure development, properties and ensuring that the 20 league clubs become independent of government sponsorship.