By Mark Baber
August 15 – The crisis in Nigerian football descended into farce on Thursday as it became clear the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) president Aminu Maigari (pictured), had officially resigned from his post whilst a letter from FIFA arrived demanding the NFF reinstate him and the Executive Committee which had been in place before the World Cup.
According to Nigerian media, Nigeria Football Federation spokesperson Ademola Olajiire confirmed that Maigari had submitted his resignation letter on Wednesday morning in Abuja, which was then reportedly accepted by the Board.
Local media also reported on Thursday that FIFA Deputy Secretary General Markus Kattner had sent a letter to NFF General Secretary, Musa Ahmadu saying: “We take note of your explanations with regard to the meeting of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) held on July 24, 2014 and it would appear that the said meeting didn’t comply with some statutory provisions (e.g. deadlines for the convocation of the meeting and for the sending of the agenda). In addition, in a correspondence addressed to FIFA, Mr. Maigari denied the course of events and complained that he had even not been given the possibility to answer the allegations against him.
“We have also been informed that members of the NFF Executive Committee decided to sanction two other Executive Committee members for six months and one year. By so doing, it seems the said members of the Executive Committee went beyond their prerogatives, which is limited to suspend provisionally persons or organs until the following Congress during which the sanctions are confirmed or lifted.
“Finally, we also learnt that some members of the electoral committee and the electoral appeal committee duly elected by the Congress in November 2013 were removed from their position by the Executive Committee, which is contrary to the segregation of powers.
As stated in our letter dated August 4, 2014 it is regrettable that the situation has turned so confused, while elections are planned to take place on August 25, 2014. The recent decisions of the Executive Committee are highly questionable with regard to the compliance with the statutes and should anyway be confirmed by the Congress. In the meantime, the different suspensions are affecting the electoral process by preventing persons to contest the elections.
“Under this circumstances, we deem that the NFF Congress will exercise its sovereign power through the electoral process, which shall be open to everybody and managed by the electoral committees elected by the Congress in their entirety. The Executive Committee of the NFF shall also be reunified as it was before the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“Taking into account the internal divisions in the Executive Committee, it is advisable that major decisions are frozen until the elections of August 26 and that the focus will be now on the programmes of the candidates and the development of Nigerian football.
“We thank you in advance to inform accordingly the different parties and to provide us with a new roadmap taking into account our recommendations. Finally, we would like to ensure that the legitimacy of the delegates who will attend the August 26, 2014 Congress will not be questioned and we anticipate the Congress will be composed of the delegates who participated at the November 2013 Congress unless there have been changes statutory compliant. Furthermore, we advise you that President Maigari must preside over the NFF Congress on August 26.”
In reaction to the letter the NFF has insisted that Maigari had already tendered his resignation and sent a copy of his letter to FIFA.
In other news, Adidas has reportedly informed the NFF it will not be renewing its sponsorship contract with Nigeria went it runs out at the end of the year saying, “Adidas has conducted an analysis of its football partnerships and related businesses. Based on this evaluation and in combination with the recent correspondence between the parties, we regret to inform that adidas has decided not to extend its partnership with the Nigeria Football Federation as per the end of the Agreement (i.e 31 December 2014).”
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