NFF crisis is only about money

As a former Secretary General of the then NFA, how disappointed are you with the lingering crisis in

What is happening is very unfortunate because Nigeria is supposed to be the leading light in football in Africa. Some people just want to ridicule our football. They want us to go back hundred years. I blame the entire system and all those who are fermenting this crisis. I also hold both Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa responsible for all of them have one fault or another. The two are presently battling in a conventional court contrary to FIFA statues. They have put us in serious dilemma because Nigeria is torn between her constitution and FIFA statues. Are we to respect the decision of the supreme court or FIFA statues?. What is there is that we voluntarily joined FIFA whose statues we must respect. So that is one aspect. Another is that there is the decision of the apex court in the land to deal with.

What would you say is the way out of the present crisis?

What we need is a political solution. Of course FIFA are waiting for Tuesday to take a decision but we can find a political solution by setting up an independent body of eminent leaders to help resolve the lingering crisis. The Vice-President is a legal luminary, in fact a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation is also a lawyer, the minister of sports is also a lawyer, together with other prominent Nigerians who are knowledgeable in football they can call the factions to a round table to find a permanent solution. Giwa and Pinnick are Nigerians and should submit to constituted authority.

Nigerians are wondering why it took the minister of sports so long to ask Pinnick to comply with the decision of the court...

I will tell you if the minister had taken that decision we wouldn’t have been to the 2018 World Cup and the consequence would have been severe. Many people would have taken the minister of Sports and Justice to court because they had already made investments towards the World Cup. Secondly, you know how crazy Nigerians are about football. There would have been serious problems for the minister.

Do you agree with Nigerians who feel strongly that the endless fighting in the NFF is because of money?

I can’t agree less. There is big money now and everybody knows that. Unlike our time in the NFA when were borrowing money to run football, there is so much money in the NFF now. That is why everybody is fighting to be in there. I can tell you that it was much later that we started getting sponsorship and grants from FIFA. Now everything has tripled. Corporate bodies are investing a lot in football so everybody wants to be there.

Are you satisfied with past efforts made to reconcile Giwa and Pinnick?

I know of series of meetings that were held to resolve the lingering dispute but I doubt if there have been any serious commitment. The Pinnick led NFF banned Giwa and some of his members and FIFA extended the ban. Other agreements reached with him were not honoured. His club was also frustrated and his players given out on free transfer. Naturally, a man who had invested his hard earned money as a private club owner would be aggrieved and decide to even pull down the house. There was also the committee headed by a former NFA chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima which the minister set up to reconcile the parties. Nobody knows what has become of the committee and its report. Maybe the recommendations of the committee would have helped in solving this problem.

With what is happening, do you see the Pinnick led NFF conducting elections into the next board as planned?

I won’t be surprised if the elections do not hold because even the Pinnick led board is factionalized. He wants to return likewise some of his board members but if you gauge the feelings of some of the members of the board, you will know the board is not in harmony. In Russia, there were so many problems. Even NFF Executive Committee members did not hide their anger as they spoke out against Pinnick and some of his loyalists. Secondly, the minister had asked the NFF to suspend everything election but they are going ahead with it because they are working according to a time frame. FIFA is also aware of their election schedule so they have to keep to it. However, don’t be surprised if someone decides to go to court to stop the election from holding. In addition, the minister may also decide to prove that he is the man in charge of sports in Nigeria. So a lot of things are there to be considered.

What would be the consequences of FIFA ban?

I want to reiterate here that the earlier the federal government sets up an independent body to look into this crisis the better. FIFA ban would not be in the best interest of Nigerian football. There will be no league football, Nigeria won’t participate in international football and Nigerian players won’t be transferred to Europe within the period. The cost of FIFA ban is unquantifiable. The best thing is to try and avoid it because most Nigerians can’t afford to do without football.