John Enoh, the Sports Minister, has given a stern warning to former World Boxing Champion, Bash Alli, demanding a public apology within a week for false accusations, or face legal repercussions.
Enoh’s response follows Alli’s claims in an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, alleging that the minister demanded $1 million from him to endorse his plan for what he calls the oldest boxers’ fight in Nigeria.
In his statement titled ‘Bash Alli and his serial blackmail must be confronted and defeated,’ Enoh urged Alli to retract his statements or prepare for legal consequences.
Enoh stated, “I am constrained to address the trending video and open petition to the President wherein Bash Alli, a former World Boxing Champion, threw caution and decency to the wind to allege that I demanded the sum of ‘another’ $1 million from him in order to endorse his plan.”
He emphasized the importance of addressing the allegations to prevent them from perpetuating, stating, “To ignore him will be a profound mistake. My reason for this is twofold.”
The minister refuted Alli’s claims, asserting, “At no point in time did I demand any form of gratification from Bash Alli.”
Enoh recounted Alli’s persistent attempts to meet him, despite caution from ministry staff, and clarified that staging the boxing fight was not the government’s responsibility but a matter for the private sector.
He concluded by reaffirming his commitment to integrity and vowed to clear his name from what he described as “an attack on decency, honesty, and integrity.”
