By Nicholas Dechi
THE BENUE State House of Assembly has directed the management of Lobi Stars Football Club (FC) to sack the Daniel Amokachi-led technical team if it fails to win the next three matches to enable them to move out of the relegation zone.
The house gave the directive when the Commissioner for Sports, Mr Terkimbi Ikyange, and the management appeared before the house during plenary on Thursday in Makurdi.
Leading the interface, the Majority Leader, Mr Saater Tiseer (APC/Mbagwa), decried the club’s abysmal performance in recent times.
Tiseer further said that the club was struggling to move out of the relegation line, wondering why the team had started going down in her performance.
Also, Mr Douglas Akya (APC/Makurdi South) said that the team’s abysmal performance was because members of the management team were working at cross purposes and not for the good of the club.
Meanwhile, Mr Cephas Dyako (LP/Konshisha) said that the club was funded 100 per cent by the state government and questioned why it would continue to fund it when it was not producing results.
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Dyako called for the sack of the technical team because they were not producing positive results.
Corroborating Dyako, Mr. Peter Ipusu (APC/Katsina-Ala West) said that the technical team needed to be sacked because they do not have the requisite capacity to deliver on their jobs.
Mr Alfred Berger (APC/Makurdi North) said that members should seek to know whether the club was adequately funded.
Berger asked why the club was still playing her home matches in Lafia to enable them to take an informed decision for the good of the club.
Responding, the Board Chairman, Dr Philip Nongo, said that the club was playing her home matches in Lafia and that had affected her performances greatly.
Nongo said that Lafia, which was the temporary home of the club, was not conducive for the players because the environment was not friendly, as spectators in Lafia were not supporting the club.
“They are not friendly with the club. They are against the change that brought them in as the management team of the club.
“We wrote the Nigerian Football Federation (NFA) to change their home to Bauchi, but it was not approved because Bauchi did not have a good pitch.
“Another reason why the team is not living up to expectations is the wrong recruitment of players. This contributed a lot to the abysmal performance of the club.
“We will inject new players that will give the club results in January,” Nongo assured.
Ruling, the Speaker, Mr Hyacinth Dajo, advised the management team to work together and produce results for the club and state.
Dajo further stated that the technical team should turn things around within three matches; if they did not bring results, they should be fired.
He also encouraged Ikyange to intensify supervision so that the team would live up to its expectations.
He further assured that the leadership of the house would talk to Gov. Hyacinth Alia to hasten work on the stadium so that the club could resume playing her home matches there. (NAN)
