The number of stakeholders calling for Nigerian football’s reset through reforms in the process of electing members into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has continued to rise, with sports facilities’ expert, Ebi Egbe, the latest to join the chorus.

At the weekend, former Green Eagles captain, Segun Odegbami, re-echoed the call for changes in the electoral process to allow genuine stakeholders to vie for positions into the board, instead of the current process that has made membership of the board the exclusive preserve of a few, some of who have been on the board for close to 20 years with no positive impact on the country’s football.

Odegbami had appealed to President Bola Tinubu and all well-meaning Nigerians to stop the fast approaching NFF Elective Congress scheduled to hold in Lafia, Nasarawa State next month.

And now Egbe, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Monimichelle Sports Facility, has also appealed for a halt to the forthcoming election, saying that only a complete rejigging of the process for a new electoral system can guarantee a free and fair election.

He said that the current electoral structure gives certain people in the football circle an enormous advantage to the detriment of the development of football in the country.

Egbe, who was reacting to the news that the Kwara State government has not only endorsed the chairman of the state’s football association for election into the board, but also bought the expression of interest form for him, said the process goes beyond who endorsed a candidate.

“It will be very difficult for genuine reformers to even consider buying nomination forms for the current NFF elections when the electoral structure appears to give the 37 State Football Association members such enormous influence over the outcome.

“For me, the real issue is not about who buys a form or who eventually wins. It is about whether the process gives every credible candidate a genuine and equal opportunity to compete,” he said.

Egbe said he would have bought the form to contest in the elections, adding, however, that he is not convinced by the process.

“If I were convinced that the election process would be truly free, fair, transparent and competitive, I would have bought a form myself and put forward my own vision for reforming Nigerian football. Our football needs an electoral system that encourages fresh ideas, accountability and credible leadership, not one that discourages genuine reformers from participating in the first place.

“This is not about personalities. It is about the future of Nigerian football,” Egbe said.