Benin City — Confusion reigned in Benin yesterday when accusations and counter accusations exposed the messy state of Bendel Insurance, one of Nigeria's top clubs.

It was so bad that even questions were raised on the real owners of the club.

First was the accusation that sports commissioner Brown Ebewele was withholding the sum of N61m approved by the state government and has refused to release for club functions like payment of sign-on fees etc.

Members of the Insurance Supporters club were in the Vanguard of this campaign against Ebewele. They even protested in Benin City yesterday. Their chairman, Osaro Ojo led them and aside alleging that Ebewele withheld club's money, they also said that Ebewele planned to buy the club.

Bown, fondly called the Juju man of Nigerian sports, laughed off the accusations and said they were far from the truth.

"In the first place, you don't withhold what you don't have. N61m was approved for the club but it has not been released. The truth is that Chief Ekhosuehi (chairman of the club) is the one masterminding their action because they know I am against how he has converted Insurance into his property. This was done through some deceit and government cannot be spending money on a club it does not own. The club was changed from Bendel Insurance to Insurance FC at the Corporate Affairs Commission as a private property and before now, the government had naively been putting money in the club without knowing that Ekhosuehi and his children as directors registered a brand new name with Insurance. Government cannot fund what does not belong to it."

Ekhosuehi defended himself this way: "The club is jointly owned by me and the government and I have spent more money on the club than the government has done. I have no regret that I put the names of my children as directors. They said I did not reflect government's interest and that I should do a letter to CAC to remove my children as directors and reflect a proper ownership of the club by myself and the state government."

Chief Ekhosuehi said nobody should blame him because he had written to the government on July 27, 2007 and quoted the reference number of the letter as IEF/G/VOL 1/07 in which he asked the Deputy Governor through the Commissioner that "since Edo State government did not nominate its representative as at when needed, I had to register the company with other persons. In view of recent development and the continued financial and other contributions of the Edo State government to the development/promotion of the club, I wish to confirm that I do not claim full ownership of the club.

"I support and agree that the memorandum and Article of Association should be amended to reflect the joint ownership of the club by Edo State government and myself Igbinomwanhia Ekhosuehi, after necessary modalities and sharing formula have been agreed upon."