How Unpaid $100,000 Pledges, Missing Abuja Flats And National Honours May Have Cost Nigeria The 2026 Title. And Why EFCC Must Probe The Football House.
From Morocco Glory To Morocco Shame: The Untold Story…
July 2025, Rabat. The Super Falcons beat Zambia, then South Africa, then Morocco to win Nigeria’s 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. It was a night of dancing, drumming, and presidential phone calls. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu addressed the team live when they returned home. His words were loud and clear: $100, 000 for each player. Three-bedroom apartments in Abuja for every member. National honours for the squad and technical crew. The nation cheered. The girls cried.
July 2026, Rabat again. The same Super Falcons, same tournament, were eliminated by Cameroon in the quarter-finals. A team that had won 10 of 13 WAFCON titles looked disjointed, angry, and heavy. Between those two Julys, something happened inside the Football House. Behold, it was covered up. And now, with President Tinubu ordering a “comprehensive overhaul” of the NFF that led to the mass resignation of the President, Board Members and the General Secretary this week, a story that no sports desk reported is surfacing: The 2025 presidential rewards have not been paid.
And players were allegedly asked to keep quiet with letters dated after the fact. This is the story of that silence. Of promises made in public and delayed in private. And of why the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must now ask: Where is the money? Where are the houses? And did the failure to deliver break the team?
The 2025 Promise – public, loud, and unforgettable. Nigerians remember that night. After the Falcons lifted the 2025 WAFCON trophy in Morocco, President Tinubu’s reward package was announced through official channels and widely reported:
1. $100,000 USD for each player and technical crew member.
2. A 3-Bedroom Apartment in Abuja for each member of the squad.
3. National Honours: Member of the Order of the Niger (MON).
It was hailed as the biggest reward in African women’s football history. The President called it “a statement that Nigeria values its daughters.” The Falcons returned to a hero’s welcome. Photos were taken. Speeches made. One year later, as of August 2026, documents seen by this columnist confimed that none of the three components has been fully delivered. That is the core of this column, a report of investigations.
‘The unreported letters inside Morocco 2026’
According to multiple players and officials who cannot be named here, trouble started building in the camp ahead of WAFCON 2026, also hosted in Morocco. Some players began asking, privately at first: “Where is our 2025 money? Where are the Abuja houses?” According to decent sources, NFF officials got wind that the players were planning a quiet protest including training boycott, and a unified statement to the press in Morocco. That was when, sources confirmed, three letters were rushed to the team in Morocco. We have reviewed copies of the letters provided and verified as authentic. Key details:
Letter 1: Payment of $100, 000 Reward dated July 27, 2026.
Delivered in Team Hotel, Rabat, July 2026 on the letterhead of The Presidency: National Sports Commission. Letter 2: Conferment of National Honours dated July 27, 2026 on a letterhead of Office of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs. Delivered in Team Hotel, Rabat, July 2026. Letter 3: Allocation of 3-Bedroom Flats, Abuja. Dated September 18, 2025 on a letter head of “Renewed Hope: Renewed Project SPV Limited RC. 7329087. Delivered in Team Hotel, Rabat, July 2026
The most striking is Letter 1from the National Sports Commission, which announced the redemption of the total presidential package. It states in part, “Please, note that the approved financial reward of Naira equivalent of (One Hundred/Fifty Thousand USD) is being processed by the Honourable Minister of Finance/CME and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and you will receive payments directly to your Bank account in due course”.
That promissory note surfaced eleven months after the President’s public announcement. Was the presidency aware?
Letter 3 for the houses, is backdated to September 2025, two months after the WAFCON final. Insiders who spoke to “Inside Stuff” said the letters were meant to “calm nerves” and “ensure focus” before the Cameroon match.
Full quote: “They gave us letters in Morocco so we would not talk. One year later, and they were still ‘processing.’ We played with that in our hearts.” We reached out to the NFF for comment before publication. But at press time, the NFF Board had resigned en masse following the President’s directive for an overhaul.
‘Why This Matters – From promise to performance’
Can unpaid bonuses really cause a team to lose? Sports psychology says yes. Team cohesion dies when trust dies. Consider the timeline:
1. July 2025: Won WAFCON. Public promise made.
2. Sept 2025 – June 2026: 11 months. No payment. No allocation letters for houses. No investiture for honours.
3. July 2026: Team in Morocco. Letters arrive dated July 27, 2026. One week before Cameroon game.
4. July 2026: Cameroon eliminated Nigeria.
Players told us the mood in camp was not about tactics. It was about “being used.”
“It’s not about the money alone,” one player said. “It’s about respect. The President said it on TV. Then nothing. Then letters in Morocco. We felt like beggars.”
This does not excuse the technical failure against Cameroon. But it explains the weight the girls carried. You cannot ask athletes to die for a badge when they feel the system has failed them first.
‘The collapse of the Football House’
This week, President Tinubu ordered what he called a “comprehensive overhaul of the Football House.” Within 48 hours, NFF President, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau, resigned citing “personal reasons.” Other board members resigned. The General Secretary who spent more than a decade there also exited. “The Guardian”(Nigeria) yesterday (Friday August 28, 2026) published a comprehensive lead story headlined, “Football Under Scrutiny: NFF shops for new era, ‘managers’ amid global accountability probe” detailing years of alleged mismanagement, contract disputes, and poor administration that led to the collapse.
Meanwhile, the mass resignation at the NFF has been hailed by fans and analysts as long overdue. But the mass resignation also creates a new problem: Who is now responsible for fulfilling the 2025 presidential promise to the Falcons? If the people who signed the July 27, 2026 letters are gone, do the letters die with them? Or does the Federal Government, through the National Sports Commission and Ministry of Finance, step in directly? That is why EFCC must step in.
‘Why EFCC must probe – 5 Questions’
The EFCC’s mandate is to investigate financial crimes and abuse of public office. The Falcons case raises 5 urgent questions:
1. Where is the money? Was budgetary provision made for the $100,000 x 30 players + crew = $3 million? If yes, where is it? If the Ministry of Finance was “processing” as of July 2026, what was the hold-up?
2. Who signed the letters and why the dates? Why were letters dated 27 July 2026 delivered in July 2026? Why was the housing letter backdated to Sept 2025? Was this to mislead players?
3. What happened to the housing allocations? Which ministry was to provide the Abuja 3-bedroom flats? Was land allocated? Were contractors paid?
4. Who Blocked the National Honours list? The list for MON honours is usually processed through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Why, one year later, has no investiture happened?
5. Did the delay affect Falcons performance? Did the delay contribute to poor morale and Nigeria’s early exit in 2026? If public funds were used to prepare a team that was demoralised by unpaid debts, that is a governance failure. This is not about witch-hunting. It is about accountability. The President made a promise in the name of Nigeria. Nigerians deserve to know why it was not kept for a whole year.
‘The Media Silence – Why No One Reported The Scandal’
This is perhaps the most curious part. Sports journalists travelled with the team. They were in the hotels. They heard whispers of the victims. Yet, no major outlet robustly reported that the 2025 rewards were unpaid before the 2026 tournament. Why?
1. Access Journalism: Some reporters fear losing access to NFF if they report negatively. 2. The Letters: The letters were delivered inside the team hotel, away from media.3. NFF Control of Narrative: The NFF press team focused on “preparation” and “morale,” not welfare. 4. Fear of Victimisation: Players feared being dropped if they spoke. The result: A scandal was covered up not by conspiracy, but by silence. That must end now.
What the President must do now: President Tinubu has shown he can act decisively with the NFF overhaul. He must now do three (3) things for the Falcons:
Direct payment through Ministry of Finance: Bypass the old NFF structure. Pay the $100, 000/$50, 000 directly to each 2025 player and crew from a special presidential intervention fund. Publish the list.
Allocate the houses: Work with FCTA and Ministry of Housing to allocate the promised 3-bedroom flats immediately. Ensure possession of the houses before December 2026.
Confer the National Honours: Send the list to the SGF. Hold an investiture before year ends. Let the girls wear MON on their chests.
EFCC Probe: Refer the matter to EFCC to trace what happened to the funds and who delayed the process to this shameful denouement. This is not just about the Falcons. It is about every Nigerian athlete who will hear a presidential promise in the future.
‘The Bigger Picture – Women’s Football And Trust’
The Super Falcons are Nigeria’s most successful national team. 10 WAFCON titles. Olympic qualifications. World Cup runs. Yet they have historically been the most poorly treated. From unpaid bonuses in 2016, 2019, to this 2025 case, it has been reproachful. If we want Nigeria to remain a football power, we must treat our female athletes with the same urgency we treat male athletes. That is what has happened in Spain as I noted the other day.A promise from the President is a debt of the nation. Not a gift. When that debt is unpaid, the next generation of girls will not lace their boots.
As our girls are still waiting: As of today, the 2025 Super Falcons are back in their clubs in Europe, America, and Nigeria. Some are paying rent. Some are supporting families. Some are wondering if that Abuja flat will ever come. They won for Nigeria. They danced for Nigeria. Now they are asking one question: When will the President’s 2025 promise be fulfilled?
Mr President, you intervened and cleaned the Football House. Thank you. Now please, finish the job. Pay the girls. House the girls. Honour the girls. And let EFCC find out who stood between your word and their reward. And here is the thing, a nation that does not keep its promise to its champions cannot ask them to keep winning for the nation.
- Oloja is former editor of The Guardian newspaper and his column, Inside Stuff, runs on the back page of the newspaper on Sunday. The column appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.