With a few days to the kickoff of the 2025/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season, newly promoted Barau FC Kano is battling frantically to secure a home ground for its matches.
At the end of the 2024/2025 season, the club which is founded and sponsored by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, made history by joining Kano Pillars in the NPFL—marking the first time Kano State will be parading two top-flight teams.
While the Dambatta Stadium had served Barau FC in the lower NLO and NNL divisions, it has fallen short of NPFL’s standard. Unfortunately, the club’s effort to access the only viable alternative, the 18,000-capacity Sani Abacha Stadium—longtime fortress of Kano Pillars—is mired in controversy.
Barau FC has revealed that the Kano State Commission is demanding a whopping N50m to be paid before the club would be allowed to use the Sani Abacha Stadium as its new home ground.
The situation which some observers have attributed to political rivalry has thrown confusion into the camp of Barau FC as the debutants are at the risk of starting their journey in the NPFL on a shaky note.
N50m demand for Sani Abacha Stadium facilities
At a press briefing on Sunday, August 17, Barau FC Chairman, Ambassador Ibrahim Shitu Chanji, revealed that the Kano State Sports Commission initially pegged the fee to be paid for the use of the Sani Abacha Stadium at 150,000 per match, but later raised the figure to 50 million for the whole season.
When contacted, the acting Chairman of the Kano State Sports Commission, Umar Ibrahim, said it was necessary for Barau FC to pay the money because maintaining the sports facility is capital intensive.
“The Sports Commission is responsible for managing facilities in the state and ensuring proper use. Because of that, we gave Barau FC some conditions. If they meet those conditions, they will be permitted to use the stadium for their NPFL matches.”
In his response, the Chairman of Barau FC said the sudden hike in fees suggests attempts to frustrate the club’s access to the facility.
“We wrote formally seeking clarification, but just days to kick-off, no response has come,” he lamented, warning that the deadlock could affect not only the club’s participation in the NPFL but also thousands of Kano youths, traders, and small businesses who earn a living from matchday activities.
However, Umar Ibrahim said the commission is in discussion with the club in an attempt to resolve the matter amicably.
“We are in discussion with them and hope to reach a middle ground. We believe they should be able to meet the conditions so that they can play at the Sani Abacha Stadium.”
Meanwhile Barau FC will face a tough test in their first home game against NPFL giants Enyimba FC on Sunday August 24, even as they are yet to know where exactly the match will be staged.
For journalist and football analyst, AbdulGafar Oladimeji, the issue is not whether Barau FC should be asked to pay—since football is a business—but rather the moral question of whether the same standard is applied to other Kano-based Nigerian clubs registered as limited liability companies.
For instance, according to reputable football market value analysis on Transfermarkt, Kano Pillars which uses that stadium without paying that much currently has a market value of €12,000, with a total squad valuation of about €500,000.
He, therefore, said he hopes there is no political undertone in asking Barau FC to pay such a high amount of money for the club to make use of the same facility that other Kano clubs are using for little or no amount of money.
However, another football enthusiast, Muhammad Sani, commended the Sports Commission for adopting a business-minded approach, which he said has long been absent in Nigerian sports, allowing revenue leakages to persist over the years.
He expressed hope that the 50m price tag for playing at SAS for a season would mark a turning point. “So, let everybody, even Sports writers, and other associations that use the stadium for free, begin to pay a huge amount of money to use the stadium henceforth” he said.
The business issues aside, some football stakeholders have suspected a lack of support for Barau FC by the sports commission which could be as a result of an unhealthy and politically motivated football rivalry.
While Kano Pillars is backed by the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) led government, Barau FC is a privately owned club being financed by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano.
Sani Shehu said: “Football is a powerful force capable of breaking barriers created by politics and tribe. We are living witnesses to the kind of football rivalry that once bred hooliganism in Kano before some clubs were amalgamated to form Kano Pillars in those days.
“So, this issue shouldn’t be allowed to brew any kind of dangerous rivalry, based on politics” he said
Sports journalist, Abdullahi Shehu, however, warned of looming danger, noting that even clubs in the NLO and NNL currently use the stadium for their home matches at little or no cost.
According to him, the unfolding situation raises serious questions about stadium revenue as he said “if what is good for the geese is not good for the gander, the sports commission should have a rethink on the issue.”
Meanwhile, fans eagerly await the historic “Pyramid City Derby” between four-time NPFL champions Kano Pillars and their city rivals, Barau FC on October 19, and March 9, 2026.
For now, if the predicament of Barau FC is not addressed quickly, Kano’s dream of hosting two NPFL clubs may be aborted due to the ongoing hide-and-seek game over access to Sani Abacha Stadium.
A baby club, Barau FC—lacking the time and resources to build their own stadium—may be forced to migrate to another state where the cost of securing an adopted home ground may be far less than the N50m demanded by the Kano State Sports Commission.
