BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN-ROSE
Super Eagles captain, Wilfred Ndidi, has said he has made a commitment to his teammates and officials that he would settle their unpaid match bonuses at the ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON) in Morocco if the Federal Government fails to pay before Saturday, when they will face Algeria in the quarter-finals.
Ndidi was quoted by BBC journalist Oluwashina Okeleji on Thursday after the Federal Government, through the Office of the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, had promised to fast-track the payments between Thursday and Friday.
“I’ve been pushing the team to train and play the game vs Algeria. I’ve been doing this since the second game. I’ve now made a commitment to the staff and players that I’ll personally pay the bonuses if the authorities fail to before Saturday,” Ndidi was quoted by Okeleji in an X post.
“I don’t want these unpaid bonuses to affect our preparations. I told players and coaching staff that I’d personally make the payments if they don’t get it,” he added.
The Super Eagles’ camp was rocked by reports of alleged plans by players and officials to boycott travel to Marrakech and training on Thursday over unpaid bonuses for their three group stage fixtures and the round of 16.
In response to the report, Uzoka-Anite provided an update on the administrative progress regarding the match bonuses on Thursday, noting that group stage funds had been released and had cleared the necessary regulatory stages, while subsequent payments would no longer be affected by such delays.
“The Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria have successfully streamlined the foreign exchange processing to ensure our players are rewarded without further delay,” the minister wrote on X.
“Going forward, the process will be fully streamlined to ensure faster, more predictable disbursements aligned with international best practice. All group stage bonuses were fully released and have now cleared the necessary regulatory stages.”
She further explained the new process for subsequent payments, which will ease the release of funds in the players’ preferred currency.
“We have implemented a fast-track conversion process to move funds into foreign currency, honouring the players’ preferences. The final transfers to domiciliary accounts are currently in flight. Players can expect these funds to reflect starting today (Thursday) or tomorrow (Friday).”
Ndidi and his teammates arrived in Marrakech on Thursday and held another training session ahead of Saturday’s clash against Algeria.
