Fear of contempt of court forced me out of NFF election – Uchegbulam

‘Now, I have been vindicated’

Former Vice President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amanze Uchegbulam, has said the recent nullification of the 2022 NFF board elections by an Appeal Court was an avoidable consequence of a misadventure.

The Appeal Court in Abuja, led by Justice Hamma Akawu Barka, alongside Justice Okon Abang and Justice Adebukola Banjoko, last week, ordered the sacking of all members of NFF board for alleged use of court orders obtained from ‘dubious’ means, in conducting the NFF elections held in Benin City, Edo State, on September 30, 2022.

It thus nullified the elections of the NFF, which ushered in the Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau-led board.

The Appeal Court ruled that anybody seen parading him or herself as NFF Board member after the ongoing AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire risk going to jail for contempt.

Uchegbulem, a former member of Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Arbitration Committee, who was a Presidential aspirant in the 2022 NFF election, said he withdrew from the exercise to avoid the risk of Contempt of Court after a directive from the then Minister of Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare, that the election be suspended, was ignored by the NFF electoral committee.

“I withdrew from the election on principle because I did not want to compromise my integrity in the game. I also withdrew my FA – the Imo Football Association from the exercise, because there was a court order stopping the elections. I conveyed my decision to withdraw from the contest in my letter to the electoral committee, dated September 26, 2022, citing the Court Order from Hon. Justice I.E. Ekwo on the September 15, 2022, stopping the election, pending the hearing of a substantive suit; as my reason.

“As a law abiding citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I shall make myself available to participate in the election upon the vacation of the Order of the Federal High Court Abuja and or set aside or issues being resolved by the parties, to the knowledge of the Court and the public for the purpose, and same communicated to the Aspirants accordingly by the electoral committee,’’ part of the letter reads.

“I am vindicated by this development,” Uchegbulam said. “The court has said the counter Order was procured through ‘deceit’ as it was not from an authentic source. It was all out of desperation. Too bad.”

The Appeal Court did not only sack the Gusau-led NFF board, but also struck out all processes related to NFF appeal. The court ordered the deletion of all processes related to the appeal from the court systems immediately, citing dubious orders and deceit in the electoral process.