…Eagles defender backs new NSC boss to succeed

Super Eagles defender Shehu Abdullahi has backed Shehu Dikko to succeed as Director-General, National Sports Commission, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Abdullahi, who is currently serving a brief loan stint with Kano Pillars, made this observation following Wednesday’s appointment of the former chairman of the League Management Company.

The appointment, which was announced in a statement by the presidency after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting, came as part of eight far-reaching actions aimed at reinvigorating the administration’s capacity for optimal efficiency.

Notable among the changes in the ministerial reshuffle was the transfer of the functions of the Ministry of Sports Development to the National Sports Commission and the move of Senator John Owan Enoh from the Ministry of Sports Development to the Ministry of State for Trade and Investment.
The NSC is now the apex body that will regulate sports in the country following the scrapping of the Ministry of Sports, with Dikko as the man in charge.

Dikko’s appointment has been welcomed by a host of sports stakeholders, and Abdullahi has also thrown his weight behind the former Nigeria Football Federation vice president.
“Congratulations to Shehu Dikko, the newly appointed Chairman of the National Sports Commission by the President of Nigeria,” he wrote on his X account.
“Dikko’s passion for football and sports is unprecedented. He has the knowledge and experience to succeed on this national assignment.”

Dikko, the Kaduna State-born football administrator, was the Chairman of the League Management Company responsible for the management of the Nigerian Premier Football League, then called the Nigeria Professional Football League.

He previously served as a consultant to the Nigerian House of Representatives Sports Committee.

Dikko contested the Presidency of the Nigeria Football Federation in 2022 but later stepped down for Ibrahim Gusau, who emerged victorious.