{
  "id": 19313350,
  "title": "Flamingos: NSC rejects Obi’s claims, demands apology",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/10/flamingos-nsc-rejects-obis-claims-demands-apology-19313350",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-10T09:40:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Punch",
    "slug": "punch",
    "url": "https://punchng.com/flamingos-nsc-rejects-obis-claims-demands-apology/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The National Sports Commission (NSC) has dismissed claims by Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, that he was prevented from meeting Nigeria's victorious Under-17 women's football team, the Flamingos, at Abuja airport. The NSC also denied Obi's assertion that he personally approached the players. Instead, the commission revealed that the request for a meeting came from two individuals dressed in Obi's campaign attire. NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, stated that the team members were too tired from their journey from Morocco and had just arrived at 5:30 am when the meeting was proposed. Dikko emphasized that the meeting was declined to protect the players' welfare and due to the sudden nature of the request. The NSC chairman criticized Obi for exploiting the situation for political gain and urged him to apologize to the young athletes.",
  "summary": "The National Sports Commission has rejected claims by Peter Obi that he was prevented from meeting the Flamingos, demanding an apology from him. Read More: https://punchng.com/flamingos-nsc-rejects-obis-claims-demands-apology/",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}