Kano Pillars put under new NPFL transfer embargo for failing to pay Akpan Bassey

By Wale Mustapha

Kano Pillars will have to prosecute the 2023/2024 season without new players as the Nigeria Premier Football League body have placed a bad on their transfer dealings following their inability to respect players contract.

The Pyramid Boys made a swift return to Nigerian top flight following their unfortunate relegation to the lower division two seasons ago.

However, they have been find wanting for their failure to pay outstanding wages of one of their former players, Akpan Bassey.

In a letter issued by Nigeria Premier League, NPL’s Head of Administration, Stanley Ike-Richard to Kano Pillars on Thursday, it states that given the existing ban, the club cannot sign or register new players ahead of the new season until the club pays the former player the outstanding sum of eleven million, eight hundred thousand naira(N11,800,000.00).

The NFF had earlier through the Players’ Status/Arbitration Committee in a letter signed by the Secretary of the Committee, Joshua Onoja, Esq. ordered Kano Pillars to remit the outstanding sum of ₦11.8 million owed in arrears to their former goalkeeper Bassey Akpan within 21 days in June 2023, a decision the club is yet to abide with.

The former Golden Eaglet goalkeeper joined the four-time Nigeria Premier Football League champions in 2021 and made a couple of appearances for them in the league before quitting the club.