Our N300m sponsorship deal with AFN intact, says Premium Trust bank

• To sign tripartite agreement before Golden League in Benin City

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and Premium Trust Bank yesterday, ended the controversies surrounding the N300m sponsorship deal, with officials of the bank saying that the money is still intact, contrary to insinuations by some of the board members that it has ‘vanished’ from the federation’s account.

There had been uneasy disquiet within the AFN family, following claims by some of the board members that their President, Tonobok Okowa, and a few others, squandered the N100 million realised by Premium Trust Bank as its yearly sponsorship.

However, the AFN, its marketing consultant, Nilayo Sports Management and officials of Premium Trust Bank met in Lagos, yesterday, where the controversies surrounding the sponsorship deal was laid to rest.

Speaking with The Guardian at the end of the meeting, Secretary General of the AFN, Rita Mosindi said: “We just finished the meeting with officials of Premium Trust Bank now, and they are not happy with rumours that the sponsorship money had been spent by the president and a few board members.

“They said no kobo has been given to anybody. It is a three-year sponsorship, which runs from September 2022 to September 2025. Some of our board members could not make it to this meeting due to the short notice. Soon, we are going to sign a tripartite agreement between Premium Trust Bank, Nilayo Sports Management and the AFN before our next Golden League competition in Benin City.”

“The amount of money involved in the sponsorship deal is not hidden. It is N100million each year for three years. But Premium Trust Bank said the money is tied to competitions, and it won’t be released to any individual,” Mosindi stated.

Among those present at the meeting in Lagos yesterday were AFN President, Tonobok Okowa, the chairman of its Marketing Committee, Solomon Alao, who is the chairman of Lagos Athletics Association and Representative of the Southwest on the AFN board, Solomon Ogba, who represented the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC), and Bukola Olopade, who is AFN’s Chief Marketing Consultant.

Nilayo Sports, which brokered the deal, first announced the sponsorship between Premium Trust Bank and the AFN at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, last year.

Olopade said then: “As the Chief Marketing Consult to AFN, we (Nilayo Sports) signed a three-year-sponsorship on behalf of Premium Trust Bank with the AFN. Money that comes from the sponsorship deal is not given to any individual. It is tied to competitions.”

Premium Trust Bank, in the last one year, has impacted so much on the nation’s athletics, particularly with the sponsorship of the duo of Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume, as well as the Bank’s role during the last National Sports Festival held in Asaba, Delta State.