Enugu sacks Rangers GM, hands office to Christian Chukwu

Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, yesterday announced the appointment of former Captain and Coach of Enugu Rangers International, Christian Chukwu, as the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the club.

Chukwu’s appointment, which is with immediate effect, sees him taking over from former General Manager, Ozo Chibuzor.The decision to sack Ozo and appoint Chukwu was reached after a fact-finding meeting with the board, management, players, supporters club and other stakeholders of the club.

The Guardian gathered that the meeting unanimously agreed that there was need for a change in the management of the club to enable it continue in its winning streak.

The decision, it was further gathered, was not unconnected with the unimpressive performance of the club in the on-going season. Stakeholders have so far expressed concern over the results in the league matches involving the club, which will represent Nigeria in this year’s CAF Champions League.

Ozo had for sometime been engaged in running battles, especially with supporters of the club, who blame him for the club’s poor showings.

In fact, last year, supporters were forced to engage in protests over his leadership style and had called for his replacement.Although things normalized when the club started winning her matches to the point of taking the 2016 professional league title, signs that all was not well manifested during the reception for the club held at Okpara Square a few weeks ago, where his name was conspicuously missing in the list of officials, players and management of the club in the brochure for the event.

Ozor, who was at the event, was never recognized, a development that sent tongues wagging as to what government intended to do with him.Yesterday also, the governor, who announced his removal, did not applaud him for the services to the club.

Reacting to the development, the new General Manager, Chukwu, thanked the governor for the appointment and promised to put in his best to ensure that Rangers retained its current status in Nigerian football.

He called for the cooperation and support of the board, management, players and all other stakeholders of the club to take it to an enviable height.