Pinnick should ensure Nigeria is not banned by FIFA - Lumumba
Aformer NFA presidential candidate, Hon. Lumumba Dah Adeh has tasked factional president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick to join hands with other stakeholders to dissuade FIFA from banning Nigeria.
For the umpteenth time, Nigerian football is engulfed in crisis and there are fears that if the face-off between the two factional presidents, Chris Giwa and Amaju Pinnick is not resolved quickly, FIFA may suspend and ultimately ban Nigeria.
Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday, the former member of the House of Representatives and proprietor of defunct Raiders FC of Jos said since Pinnick is the one that FIFA is dealing with, he should ensure that no harm comes to Nigerian football.
“My advice is that both parties, in this case Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa should put the interest of Nigerian football over and above personal interest.
“Particularly Pinnick, he should be at the forefront, trying to dissuade FIFA from contemplating suspending or banning Nigeria because of the implication on football in Nigeria,” he stated.
Lumumba also said the endless crisis in Nigerian football is caused by lack of a sound legal framework for administration of the sport.
He explained that Nigerian football is not being administered with the necessary legal structure so those who have found their way into the NFF only think of how to perpetuate themselves in office.
“There is no sound legal structure on which Nigerian football is standing. The subsisting law is decree 101 which does not provide for some of these things we are doing.
“We are only pretending saying that we are working with statues. These statues have not been domesticated. So what are we talking about?
“We want to be part of FIFA, we want to apply their statues, we have a law that limits us, and we are administering football on the basis of no law. It does not just add up. We can never get it right,” he said.