Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar said Nigeria did not apologise to the Libyan Government or regret the quality treatment given to the Libyan officials and players despite the inaccurate account circulated by its media.
The Minister disclosed this in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media and Communication Strategy, Alkasim Abdulkadir and made available to Channel Network Afrique, CNA.
He said, on October 15, 2024, the Libya Observer published an erroneous report to gain political leverage and cause disaffection amongst continental football administrators and fans.
According to the statement, the publication by the Libya Observer, which misrepresents the phone correspondence between Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and the East-based Government’s Foreign Minister, was a clear case of misinformation.
“The fact of the matter was that the CDA of the Government of National Unity was summoned to the Ministry to seek an immediate end to the unfortunate incident.
“However, not much diplomatic headway was made during the meeting with the Acting Charge of Affairs, Imad Mohammed Matooq Aboud, as they insisted that it was not under the jurisdiction of Tripoli, which they represented, but that of the Eastern Government in Benghazi.
“This prompted the Minister to take immediate action by contacting the Foreign Minister of the Eastern Government, Abdelhadi Lahweej, to intervene and ensure that the detention ended.
“After that, the aircraft was given the necessary permits to fly, and aviation fuel was accessed,” it stated.
The statement added that, both Ministers agreed that the matter be de-escalated instantly.
“Even when Lahweej insisted on rehashing the untruth about the treatment of Libyan players in Nigeria, Amb Tuggar once again corrected the misinformation about the mistreatment of Libyan players during the Nigerian encounter.
“Lahweej proposed a joint statement, which the Ministry rejected because it erroneously misrepresented the facts of the incident,” it added.
The statement further said, the Nigeria only shared a diplomatic relationship with the government of the National Accord and not with that of Eastern government.
“Nigeria remains unequivocal in expressing its displeasure and disappointment with how the Nigerian Football Federation officials were treated in Libya.
“It calls on the Confederation of African Football to urgently ensure that its Disciplinary Board investigates the matter and imposes appropriate sanctions based on its statutes,” the statement concluded.
