Federal Ministry of Finance says Super Eagles match bonus payments at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations are now “in flight”, as officials moved to address concerns over delays earlier in the tournament.
In a statement, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Doris Nkiruka Uzoka-Anite, said the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had streamlined foreign exchange and administrative procedures to ensure players were paid without further delay.
“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,” she said.
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Dr Uzoka-Anite confirmed that all group-stage bonuses had been fully released and cleared the necessary regulatory stages, adding that the final transfers to players’ domiciliary accounts were now “in flight”.
“The final disbursements are currently in flight. Players can expect these funds to reflect starting today or tomorrow,” she said.
She added that a fast-track conversion system had been introduced to allow payments in foreign currency, in line with players’ preferences, and that future disbursements would be faster and more predictable, in line with international best practice.
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The update follows the Super Eagles players threat of boycotting their training session during the 2025 AFCON campaign over delayed bonus payments.
Earlier today the chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, said funding was not the problem, noting that President Bola Tinubu had approved the Super Eagles’ entire AFCON 2025 budget in November.
“The president approved the entire AFCON budget on Nov. 14, 2025. From our end, the funding has been fully cleared,” Dikko told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
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He said the delay was administrative rather than financial.
“Approving the money is one thing, processing it is another, but the players know the funds have been approved,” he added.
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Nigeria have won all their matches at AFCON 2025 so far, scoring 12 goals on their way to the quarter-finals. The Super Eagles are set to face Algeria for a place in the semi-finals and today left Fès for Marrakech ahead of Saturday’s match at the Stade de Marrakech.
