NPFL Target: Nasarawa United Players To Be Thoroughly Screened, Says New Chairman, Dr Othman

By Michael Umudjon

Current Players of Nasarawa United will be thoroughly screened and those who make the cut will take the team back to Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL)

Dr Othman Ibrahim Ahmed, the new Chairman of the club, made this known Saturday morning , via a phone interview on “Prime Time Football”, a purely football Radio programme on Option Fm 92.3 Akwanga, anchored by Michael Umudjon (O.G Mike)

Dr Othman made it clear that when he officially moves into his office on Tuesday 3rd October 2023, there will be an official meeting with the Players to see how to make a return to the elite division.

“The appointment is not for me alone, that’s why the government was so wise to include others that we will work together with, so it’s going to be a collective effort, so what I intend to do for us to get back to the Elite division is to have a thorough screening of the players we currently have on ground and then hold some serious meeting with them and see what went wrong that they went on relegation and then we will see how we can sanitize the team if the need be and then employ all the logistics required so that we get there .”

In terms of the speculation making the round about a new Gaffer, Dr Othman said his not aware of that, however, his team would consult with stakeholders to see who to bring on board to steer the affairs of the team.

Well I don’t know about that yet, remember am going to hit the ground running by Tuesday completely and then I will go down and see who do we really need and who do we really want and what do we want them for, because we can not throw our weight behind one strategy, we have to employ all the available strategies to get this done as quickly as possible, everybody would be involved including you and that’s the way I look at it for success to come our way especially in the area of football. he said

Reacting to the commencement of the 2023/2024 Nigeria National League (NLO) on 28th October 2023, Dr Othman says his confident that Nasarawa United would do well having been drawn in a group of death which houses the likes of; Mighty Jets FC, Elkanemi Warriors, Wikki Tourists, NAF Rockets FC, EFCC FC, Yobe Desert Stars, Jedo FC and ABS FC in the Northern Conference A

“Mike let me tell you something, Nasarawa United, my coming is just the second coming, having been in the team before, no team have ever been a scarecrow to Nasarawa united when the fixtures where made , people were complaining, are we not going to do something, i said no, it’s better we play with the big names, that gives you the joy of being the champion that we want to be. Remember when you leave the group stage you will meet other stronger teams and we don’t want them to mess us up.” Dr Othman added

At the Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria National League, in Jos, Plateau state, it was agreed that There will be four groups ( 2 in the Southern conference and 2 in the Northern Conference).

The top two teams from each conference will compete for the NPFL tickets in a Super 8 tournament while the bottom three clubs from each conference will be relegated to the Nationwide League.

2023/2024 NIGERIA NATIONAL LEAGUE DRAWS

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE A

SMART CITY

DAKKADA FC

ROVERS FC

VANDREZZER FC

EKITI UNITED FC

MADIBA FC

ABIA COMETS FC

COAL CITY FC

STORMERS FC

1473 FC

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE B

WARRI WOLVES. FC

OSUN UNITED FC

GIANT BRILLARS FC

FC ONE ROCKET FC

GATEWAY FC

IJEBU UNITED FC

TRADE SAFE FC

CROWN FC

INTERNATIONAL LAGOS FC

IKORODU FC

NORTHERN CONFERENCE A

Mighty Jets FC

Nasarawa United

Elkanemi Warriors

Wikki Tourists

NAF Rockets FC

EFCC FC

Yobe Desert Stars

Jedo FC

ABS FC

NORTHERN CONFERENCE B

Malumfashi FC

City FC

Mailantarki Care FC

Jigawa Golden Stars

Hypbuzz FC

Maikunkele FC

Adamawa United

Sokoto United

Kebbi United

Rhabam FC