Concerned Football Stakeholders has called the recent elections into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation “a total sham and complete parody of the spirit of football governance globally”.
The group, which is “a voluntary association of Nigerians interested in football matters”, put this position on record at a press conference in Abuja, where they gave their “assessment of the just concluded NFF congress in Benin and the general health of football administration in Nigeria”.
In the group’s statement, delivered by the Convener, Okechukwu Chinekezie, they argued that “NFF had no business conducting an election, having not addressed the grave concerns of the people of Nigeria, and worse still conducting an election using primordial sentiments as yardstick for determining those that emerged”.
Chinekezie told journalists present that “Nigerians should hold the General Secretary of the NFF, Dr. Sanusi Mohammed for such flagrant disregard for everything Nigeria stands for and rushing to the polls without giving consideration to the sentiments and genuine interests of the people and government of Nigeria, duly constituted authority”.
Dr Mohammed Chinekezie said is the “instigator in chief of the sham, having gone out of his way to misinform FIFA and CAF and getting them to endorse the Benin congress that was a product of his personal scheming, forgetting that the ethnic card he played along with a small group to foist the newly elected president on congress means that his position as General Secretary is no longer tenable”. Concerned Football Stakeholders, therefore, called for “the immediate removal of Dr. Mohammed as General Secretary of the NFF or for him to do the needful and resign to enable a thorough investigation of the finances of the football governing body to be carried out”.
The group said they would be presenting their position to the “Minister of Sports and the Presidency for action to be taken by the relevant authorities and law enforcement agencies to act on their genuine requests to restore the integrity of Nigerian football”.
