Sports Minister Gives Bash Alli One Week To Retract Allegation Of Demand Of $1m Gratification
Ayuba Sanusi
MINISTER of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has given boxer and former Cruiserweight Champion, Bash Alli one week within which to retract his allegation of demand of one million dollars to endorse his plan to stage the oldest boxers fight in Nigeria.
The visibly miffed Minister who addressed a press conference in Abuja was reacting to a trending video and open petition to the President by Bash Alli.
According to the Minister, the video and the petition to Mr President were done with the sole aim of defaming and destroying his reputation and integrity.
Explaining what transpired between him and Mr Bash Alli, Minister Enoh said the former boxer desperately wanted to meet him in his very early days as Minister of Sports Development when he had hardly settled down on the job.
“In the deluge of his desperate attempts, I decided to meet him against the advice of the staff of the Ministry who were familiar with his character and antics. Against their advice, I decided to meet him out of respect for his age and based on the open-door policy with which I am currently leading the Ministry.
“Conscious of the advice of some key staff of the Ministry, I sought to insulate myself and the office from any blackmail that may emanate from this meeting by making sure that my team was present at the meeting. He presented the issue of his pet project, and I told him to be patient while I get more briefing from the Ministry.
“All my life, the said meeting is the first and only time I ever met Bash Alli. There were no follow-ups after that one-off meeting, and I did not introduce any of my aides to him. After the said meeting, I politely refused to meet with him to this day in spite of his numerous requests and pressures. His incessant messages to me will speak to his desperation”.
Speaking further, Senator Enoh said: “Gentlemen of the press, as you know, Bash Alli’s plan to stage his boxing fight in Nigeria has a long history spanning almost two decades. To achieve this personal aspiration, he has deployed all manner of strategies including naked blackmail and underhand tactics in his desperate effort to arm-twist the Federal Government to spend upwards of 50m USD to stage his fight.
“Successive Ministers of Sports have rightly told him that his plan to stage this fight is not the responsibility of the government but a business that should be executed by the private sector”.
While pointing out that Bash Alli’s alleged desperate and unprovoked withering attack on him was an attack on decency, honesty, and integrity, Minister Enoh insisted that the move to clear his name has just started, and there will be no let up until he achieves the sacred mission.
“In addition to other remedies under the ambit of the law, I have instructed my lawyer to write Bash Alli demanding an immediate public retraction of his allegations and to render a public apology.
“He will have just one week to do this; the failure to do this on his part will leave me with no option than to approach the courts to both clear my name and seek damages.”.
Eighteen-Eleven Media
