The Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Bukola Olopade, has described former Anambra State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as a “pathological liar” and a “disorderly person” over the controversy surrounding his alleged airport snub by officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Olopade, who dismissed Obi’s account of the incident, insisted that the circumstances surrounding the arrival of Nigeria’s victorious U-17 women’s team, the Flamingos, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, made it impossible for the former governor to have encountered the players as he claimed.
Obi had alleged that NFF officials prevented him from welcoming and congratulating the young footballers following their return from Morocco, where they defeated Japan 2-1 to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, becoming the first African nation to claim the title.
But speaking on Monday night, Olopade challenged the former governor’s account, providing details of the team’s arrival and movement through the airport.
According to him, the Flamingos’ aircraft touched down at approximately 5:30 a.m., when it was still dark and domestic flight check-in operations had yet to commence.
He explained that the players completed immigration formalities before leaving through the underground exit of the international terminal, a route which, he argued, made it impossible for Obi, who was reportedly waiting at the domestic terminal for an Enugu-bound flight, to have seen them.
“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.
The NSC boss did not stop at disputing the airport account. He also revisited an earlier controversy involving Obi and the Super Eagles during Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in March 2025.
Obi had previously alleged that he was prevented from greeting the Super Eagles players after their match, despite being welcomed by the state governor at the VIP stand.
However, Olopade maintained that access to players during FIFA-organised matches is governed by strict protocols which apply to everyone, irrespective of political status or public standing.
“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.
Taking a swipe at Obi’s political philosophy and his frequent advocacy for discipline, orderliness and good governance, Olopade questioned what he described as a contradiction between the former governor’s public posture and his conduct over the incidents.
“This is a man who says he wants to govern on orderliness, yet he is being disorderly,” the NSC director-general declared.
He further accused the former governor of allowing politics to overshadow the achievements of the young footballers, warning that the controversy should not diminish the glory of their historic triumph.
“We should stop all this nonsense. Everything should not be about politics. He cannot take away the shine and glory of these girls,” Olopade added.
Obi, on his part, had raised the airport incident in a statement issued on Monday, November 9, titled A New Dimension of Toxic Politics in Nigeria.
In his account, the former governor said he arrived at the Abuja airport at about 7 a.m. to board a flight to Enugu when he noticed the returning Flamingos.
Moved by the team’s achievement, he said he instructed his Protocol Officer, Jackie Wayas, to find out whether he could approach the players to congratulate them.
According to Obi, his aide subsequently informed him that NFF officials had refused permission for him to meet the team and had specifically requested that he should not approach them.
“I was informed that officials of the Nigerian Football Federation had refused and had requested that I not approach,” Obi stated.
The former governor also recalled the alleged Uyo incident, suggesting that the airport episode was another example of what he described as toxic politics and an attempt to deny him the opportunity to identify with Nigeria’s sporting heroes.
The latest exchange has triggered a fresh war of words between the former governor and the sports administration, with both sides presenting sharply contrasting accounts of their encounters with the country’s national football teams.
While Obi believes he was deliberately denied access to the victorious Flamingos, Olopade insists that the timing, airport arrangements and established football protocols contradict the former governor’s narrative.
Beyond the political undertones, the controversy has also raised questions about how national sporting achievements should be celebrated without unnecessary political distractions.
For now, the Flamingos’ historic victory over Japan remains a landmark achievement for Nigerian women’s football, even as the verbal confrontation between Obi and the NSC leadership threatens to dominate conversations surrounding the team’s homecoming.