NFF Halts Elections, Disbands League Boards as Football Reforms Begin

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has put a stop to all activities related to its elective congress set for 27 September. They also removed the leadership of the major domestic leagues. This is part of temporary steps taken after the resignation of top officials in the federation.

These decisions came after NFF President Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, and other Executive Committee members resigned on Thursday. This happened amid ongoing issues in Nigerian football.

The National Sports Commission (NSC) has appointed Emmanuel Ikpeme, the former Deputy General Secretary of the NFF, to manage the federation’s Secretariat as interim General Secretary.

Ademola Olajire, the Director of Media and Communications for the federation, will take on the role of interim Deputy General Secretary.

The NFF announced that all plans for the elective congress scheduled for 27 September in Lafia, Nasarawa State, are now on hold. A new electoral process will start after the proposed reforms for Nigerian football are completed.

These reforms will be developed with input from FIFA, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the government, and other important figures in Nigerian football.

In another significant move, the chairmen, appointed directors, and CEOs of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Nigeria National League (NNL), Nigeria Women Football League, and Nationwide League One have been told to hand over the management of their leagues.

The Chief Operating Officers (COOs) of these leagues, if they are NFF staff, will temporarily take over the administration. If the current COO is not an NFF staff member, the acting General Secretary will assign a new COO from the federation.

These actions will place the management of Nigeria’s four main domestic leagues under the direct supervision of the NFF Secretariat during this transition.

The NFF stated that these interim measures aim to keep the administration of Nigerian football running smoothly while discussions about the proposed reforms take place.

“Further changes and directives will be communicated in due course,” the NFF said.

These latest decisions came just a day after President Bola Tinubu called for a full reform of Nigerian football. His Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, released a statement on Thursday saying the reforms need to fix long-standing issues in how the sport is managed.

“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football,” President Tinubu said.

Mr Tinubu also instructed the Chairman of the National Sports Commission to collaborate with the NFF Secretariat and relevant football stakeholders. They need to ensure smooth football administration and support a broad, consultative reform process.

The President emphasized that the process should include proper engagement with FIFA and CAF while respecting Nigeria’s commitments in international football.

“Football, Nigeria’s most popular sport and the greatest beneficiary of public support, investment and national attention, has continued to struggle basically due to structural deficits within the system,” Mr Tinubu added.

This shake-up comes after Mr Gusau resigned as NFF president after three years and 11 months in charge. Mr Gusau, who took over from Amaju Pinnick in September 2022, announced his resignation during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

He mentioned that his decision was made after discussions with his family, friends, and stakeholders amid increasing pressure on the federation.

His resignation follows a series of disappointing results from Nigeria’s national teams. The Super Eagles did not qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after also missing out on the 2022 tournament.

The Super Falcons faced a historic blow by failing to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, breaking Nigeria’s streak of appearing in every edition since the tournament started in 1991.

These failures led to strong criticism of the NFF, prompting the federation to set up a committee to investigate the problems facing the national teams.

For now, the interim leadership led by Mr Ikpeme is expected to keep the federation’s key operations running while the government and important figures in Nigerian football work on a plan for the proposed reforms.