Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong on Monday, disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari was shocked by the alleged non-payment of allowances to the Super Eagles players in the ongoing African Cup of Nations football competition in Egypt.

He spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to him, President Buhari had approved the allowances before commencement of the championship.

He said: “I came to see the President on behalf my state and on behalf of the 19 northern states as chairman of Northern governors’ forum. I came in to have a discussion with Mr. President, of course many of you know that I just came back from Egypt where we went to cheer our Super Eagles and I also brought him the concerns of our players over there and he promised to handle the matter immediately.

“Because football is a unifying factor in Nigeria and we shouldn’t joke with it, if they bring back the cup it will cement our relationship and that is one of it.”

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On the concerns of the Super Eagles, he said, “Well, many of the concerns raised were that their allowances were not paid and Mr. President expressed surprise that he signed these allowances and wondered why they are not paid to them.

“I was a footballer, it’s not like before when you play football out of patriotism, now it’s combined with the economic aspect. When you bring people, definitely from the ministry, you must ensure that their allowances are paid.

“We went there for the joy of it and the day we were there they won their match but when we left Sunday, I understand they lost to Madagascar.

“Defeating Guinea and allowing Madagascar to defeat us is a surprise, but I think with good motivation, these boys would bring back the cup,” he added. (The Nation)

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