Since Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima was controversially removed as chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) with the connivance of the world football governing body, FIFA, the NFF, as it is presently known, had assumed crisis as its middle name.
When Galadima was hounded out of the Glass House in 2006 on the premise of failing to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup held in Germany that year, peace seems to have taken a walk from Nigerian football.
Alhaji Sani Lulu, the anointed child of the powers that be then, who took over from Galadima, Lulu’s exit was also not devoid of crisis. In fact, he was in prison custody when the election that toppled him held, though he has been impeached earlier. Today, Lulu’s boss is battling to save his name over corruption charges levelled against him by the Federal Government, alongside former NFA Secretary Generals, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Bolaji Ojo-Oba and former NFF board member, Amanze Ochegbulam.
The same scenario is playing out again today as Nigerian football strangulated by warring factions angling to hold on to power by all means possible. This crisis seems the messier as decency has been thrown over board.
What is at play is nothing but power play between the Sports Minister, Tammy Danagogo and former NFF President, Aminu Maigari, whom we learnt boasted before the minister in Brazil that he had removed three of his predecessors before him.
While Danagogo is using federal might, Maigari is clinging on to power through the connivance of FIFA.
Maigari’s sin was the players strike in Brazil that brought odium to the country. The presidency we learnt did not take kindly to the strike as a result of the international disgrace to the country, more so, when the government made available to the Maigari board the funds needed to successfully prosecute the World Cup in Brazil .
It all started with Danagogo obeying a Jos High Court order on July 3 that dissolved the board of the NFF, which Maigari heads and also barring the NFF’s Management committee, the congress from administering the game in the country. The appointment of the most senior officer by Danagogo drew the ire of FIFA which gave the country five days to reverse itself. Failure to heed this warning resulted in the suspension of Nigeria from all football engagements on July 9, 2014. On July 18, the suspension was lifted after the executive board was restored.
Then the shenanigans began. Maigari was impeached by the board on July 24 by eight out of the 13 board members only to be re-instated on August 14, 2014 after the intervention of FIFA. But before intervention, he got across to the Secretary to the Federal Government, Anyim Pius Anyim on the premise that his political future will be jeopardised if the impeachment stands. He was asked to resign and this he did on August 12, 2014, but the letter took effect from August 25, 2014.
Maigari was able to maneuver his way through because the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adamu Muazu is his in-law. Muazu is married to Maigari’s first daughter.
After surviving the impeachment, Maigari was asked by FIFA to superintend the August 26, 2014 Elective Congress. But before then a meeting with Anyim alongside all the stakeholders called to iron out some differences, agreed that the election be postponed by a week, to September 4, 2014. The Congress was expected, according to the meeting with Anyim, to open the electoral space to all intending candidates and to also restore two of Maigari’s members on the electoral committee. Before this last meeting on August 24, three previous meeting had held with Anyim trying to ensure that peace is restored.
Events took a new turn on August 26 with the arrest of Maigari and the NFF scribe, Musa Amadu by Department of State Security (DSS) officially. The arrest was in connection with the fire that gutted the secretariat of the NFF on August 20. It was learnt that the leadership of the NFF were guest of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday August 19, 2014 with the EFCC expected to visit the secretariat that same day befoe the mystery fire that started from the accounts department and razed the building with the secretary’s office not spared.
The arrest of Maigari and Amadu did not go down well with several of the congress members who trooped out to secure his release at the DSS office. This mission hit the rocks with the election holding after it was discovered that Maigari not only plan to extend his tenure to December, but also to use the Congress to dissolve the elections’ electoral committee and appeals committee, a position the government believed was an affront it immediately ordered the election to go ahead.
Chris Giwa was voted to power in that election.
But Maigari as usual, realising that the game was up, ran to his benefactor, FIFA, reporting to it that the elections contravened NFF Status. A biased FIFA, again refused to acknowledge the outcome of the elections, but lend its support to another congress that held under the tree inside Abuja.
FIFA therefore gave Giwa till midnight of September 1, 2014 to vacate the office. The letter was dated August 29, 2014 and signed by its Secretary General, Jerome Valke. Giwa replied to FIFA which then issued another ultimatum of September 8, 2014 with a threat that should Giwa fail to vacate Nigeria stands suspended from all football matters with immediate effect. As a result of the latest letter, the Maigari faction of the NFF that was to hold an election on September 4 failed to do so only to postpone and plan for it in 2015. With government, the sole sponsor of football in the country is seriously averse to a maigari led Federation and with Maigari, determines to return to the Glass House by all means possible, the die is cast. Who blinks first, Maigari or the Federal Government? Will Giwa, who is believed to have the backing of the government quit on Monday as directed by FIFA or not? The uncertainty continues.