No distraction over crisis, Amaju Pinnick-led NFF board affirms

The Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick-led board has assured that its members are more concerned about the overall best interest of the nation and has asked true stakeholders in Nigerian football to be cautious in their utterances and actions while the issue is being resolved.

This is coming on the backdrop of the recent attempt by the Chris Giwa group to take over the secretariat of the NFF allegedly based on an advice from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to the Minister of Sports ostensibly following an exparte order secured by the Giwa group at a Federal High Court on June 5.

The action of the Giwa group followed after the office of the Attorney General had in an earlier response dated June 13, 2018, to Festus Keyamo Chambers, solicitors to the Pinnick board, stated that by virtue of the Supreme Court’s remission of the matter for re-listing at the Federal High Court, the case is deemed to be pending and therefore sub judice, and after the Amaju-led NFF board had duly challenged to set aside the said exparte order before the statutory 14 days, even though it was curiously not served the motion of the exparte application neither was it represented nor reserved with the order.

Before then, the Giwa group had on May 2, ahead of the World Cup, written to FIFA praying for the recognition of the Giwa board and FIFA in its response on June 5, categorically restated its recognition of the September 30, 2014 election and the Amaju-led Executive Committee.

While reminding them that they had earlier enrolled the matter at the Court of Arbitration for Sports and lost in 2015, FIFA drew their attention, once again, to Articles 59 par 2 and 3 of the FIFA Statutes which prohibits recourse to regular courts in football matters, informing them also that the extended ban on Chris Giwa, Muazu Suleiman, Yahaya Adama, Sani Fema and Johnson Effiong for breaches of the NFF Statutes and FIFA Code of Ethics is still subsisting.