Nigeria: NFF Staff Desert Office, As Giwa's Board Inaugurate Committees
Posted by admin | 9 years ago | 2,853 times
Abuja — Despite the warning by world football governing body, FIFA, that the Amaju Pinnick-led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) board should be allowed to discharge its duties or the country would be banned from international football, the Chris Giwa-led faction of the federation took over the body's secretariat in Abuja Monday and inaugurated members of its newly appointed committees.
FIFA had on Friday frowned at the recent events in Nigerian football, where a Jos High Court annulled the election of Pinnick as NFF president and told Giwa to assume the leadership of Nigerian football.
The body warned that the country would be thrown out of world football if anybody interfered with the Pinnick-led NFF. But in defiance of the FIFA threat, Giwa and members of his group took over the Glass House yesterday and inaugurated committees to run the game.
However, members of staff of the federation, including the top four management officers, boycotted the secretariat.
The Guardian learnt that the technical committee meeting, which was scheduled to hold yesterday with the two newly appointed coaches, Amodu Shuaibu and Samson Siasia of the Super Eagles and the U23 team respectively could not hold as scheduled. The coaches and the committee were to deliberate on their programmes and list of invited players for their respective engagements.
On arrival at the NFF Secretariat, Giwa, who met most offices, including the boardroom locked, said he was not surprised by the action of the staff, insisting, however, that his board will move on with their mandate.
Giwa said his executive committee members decided to head to court to stop the September 30 elective congress of the federation, which produced the Pinnick led board in Warri, to straighten the system and ensure that the right thing is done.
He said members of his board were not bent on occupying the Glass House, adding that if the August 26 election was the problem, they were ready for a reconciliation that would lead to a fresh election.
"We are not holding tight to our mandate of September 26... it is not a do or die for us. We have requested for a reconciliation and if that August 26 is the problem we are ready to go for a fresh election and whoever God gives the position we will support the person," he said.
According to him, after the controversial August 26 election, where he was returned as president, his board met and decided to step down and go for a fresh election in the interest of peace but had a change of plan when the then board led by Aminu Maigari insisted in taking the election to Warri.
"We went to court to stop that election because we want reconciliation... we want peace. When we discovered that they wanted to hold the congress on the 20th, we approached the court with an exparte motion and to God be the glory the court granted that plea but they disobeyed the order and still went ahead with the election on the 30th.
"Now let me say something, which I have not told the public all this while; before the election of September 30 thank God my board members are here, we held a meeting where we all agreed that if there were issues with the election of August 26, we don't mind we will drop our mandate and go for the election of 30th but we don't want the election to take place in Warri, that they should find a neutral venue for us to go and contest. We approached all of them and the next thing we heard is no, FIFA said this and all such talks so I don't know where we went wrong."If you call the chairman of Abia State Football Association, he will tell you, I personally went to him in Bentley Hotel because I know he is one of the leaders of that group. I went to him and told him we were ready to go into the election, we had a lengthy discussion and he even called one of them to reactivate my thought," he said.
On the threat of a possible FIFA ban, Giwa said he was not sure the world body will resort to such extreme position even as he argued that both FIFA and CAF stayed away from the Warri election because they also knew it was illegal."
Source: Nigeria football News
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