The Federal Government has moved to defuse growing tension around the Super Eagles’ participation at the ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, announcing that all outstanding match bonuses have successfully passed required regulatory processes and are now being released to players.
Okay News reports that the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday, following threats by the Super Eagles to boycott travel ahead of their quarter-final fixture.
According to the minister, payments are expected to reflect in the players’ domiciliary accounts “starting today or tomorrow,” bringing relief after days of uncertainty within the national camp.
The development comes after the Super Eagles raised concerns on Wednesday over unpaid allowances, warning they would not travel to Marrakesh for Saturday’s quarter-final clash against Algeria unless the issue was resolved. Nigeria is scheduled to depart from Fez to Marrakesh on Thursday, a journey of about five hours by road.
Players and officials were reportedly frustrated over the non-payment of bonuses covering all four matches Nigeria have played so far at the tournament. The standoff sparked memories of a similar incident in November 2024, when the team boycotted training during African World Cup playoff preparations due to unpaid allowances. Days later, Nigeria lost to DR Congo, effectively ending its qualification hopes for the 2026 World Cup.
Addressing the current situation, Uzoka-Anite explained that the delay was linked to foreign exchange procedures.
“The delay was largely due to the conversion process to move funds into foreign currency, which was the preference of the players,” she said, adding that the bottleneck had now been resolved.
She noted that the Federal Government, working with the Central Bank of Nigeria, had fast-tracked the process to avoid any further disruption to the team’s campaign.
“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 stated.
Uzoka-Anite also assured that steps were being taken to prevent a recurrence.
“Going forward, the process will be fully streamlined to ensure faster and more predictable disbursements aligned with international best practice,” she said.
