By Mark Baber
March 2 – President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick threatened to take legal action against the press on Friday, as his controversial administration continues to be plagued by questions over transparency, NFF finances, a contract for national team coach Stephen Keshi and administrative competence.
Whilst the Pinnick administration has reportedly drafted a contract for Stephen Keshi to remin on as national team coach, relations between the NFF and Keshi have been in the spotlight as Keshi has stated “From the clauses I have seen so far, I don’t know what words to use but the contract can be described as a slave contract.”
The proposed contract reportedly runs from 1st March 2015 to 28th February 2017, subject to Nigeria reaching the semi-final of the African Nations championships (CHAN) and semi-final of the African Nations Cup (AFCON) – otherwise his contract can be terminated at the “absolute discretion” of the NFF. Keshi would also reportedly have to “obey all lawful technical directives of the NFF Technical Committee,” “be ready to accept technical assistant whenever the NFF finds it necessary” and his contract “can be terminated if considered to be insubordinate.”
Another source of friction has been salary payments, with Keshi telling local media “I heard also Amaju said he has paid us everything, that he is not owing us. It is a lie, big-time lie. He is owing us two months plus our winning bonus for the game against Sudan.
“What is he talking about? Because I am keeping quiet, I don’t want to talk? Now if they want me to talk, I will start talking and let Nigerians know what is happening.”
Pinnick has tried to smooth things over, blaming the press for the furore, in recognition that the NFF has limited realistic options to hire a foreign coach, even as Keshi has been openly attempting to find a job elsewhere, being turned down by Burkina Faso last week.
The NFF announced that they had arranged a friendly match against Ghana to be held in London on March 29th. However, FIFA rules do not allow national teams to play two friendlies within three days across two continents – so the game has had to be cancelled as Nigeria were already scheduled to play Bolivia on March 26th.
“Pinnickgate”
Abuja-based www.gongnews.net has been investigating what it calls “Pinnickgate” – the links between the NFF and Tunde Adelakun, who they describe as a London-based ‘taxi-driver’ who has reportedly been acting as a ‘consultant’ to the NFF.
According to Gongnews: “Adelakun had to organise Amaju Pinnick to go on photo shoot with prominent English Premier League coaches, which the Nigerian media are helping to splash on their platforms. While the man is smiling to the banks having taken two sets of referees to a London suburb on private visits masqueraded as training tours, he took the NFF on tour of EPL coaches and club houses.”
Apparently infuriated, Pinnick told Nigeria’s The Guardian on Friday. “The time has come for me to take legal action against some of these people because I have no skeleton in my cupboard. There are so many armchair critics seeking undue relevance in our football circle and we have to deal with them squarely.”
According to Pinnick: “The report said the visit by Nigerian referees to London was fixed by Adelakun, which is not true. I have instructed my legal team to take immediate action. The writer had been using his online publication to fabricate stories against me since I assumed office.”
Far more serious questions remain to be answered over NFF finances, the mysterious fire which took hold in the Accounts Office in the Glass House and the whereabouts of the $3.6 million in bail-out money given to the NFF by the Federal Government now that FIFA have reportedly paid the NFF Nigeria’s World Cup money.
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