The
football Governing body has declared the Nigeria Football Federation
elective congress that produced Chris Giwa as illegal and ordered his
board to leave office by Monday . Fifa has rejected the Chris Giwa led
excutive board of the Nigeria Football Federation and ordered the group
to vacate office on or before midnight, Monday September 1. Giwa was
declared the president of the country’s apex football body on Tuesday at
an elective congress held at Chida Hotel, Abuja where he defeated
former NFF Vice President Mike Umeh.
In a letter signed by
Jérôme Valcke and addressed to NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu and
dated August 29, the world football governing body declared the election
congress that produced Giwa as unacceptable, based on its recieved
correspondence. Fifa highlighted the implications should Giwa continue
to parade himself as the NFF President, stressing that the governing
body will seek no other option than presenting Nigeria’s case before its
executive committee for sanction. The body further declared the
congress held at Bentley Hotel as valid while that of Chida Hotel as not
acceptable as it contradicted the earlier proposed agenda for a
non-elective congress.
“We refer to the enclosed reports we have
received from members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the
Association of Professional Footballers of Nigeria, as well as to
information relayed by the media with regard to the events linked to the
general assembly of the NFF on 26 August 2014,” the statement read.
“We
understand from the sequence of events that the general assembly duly
convened by the NFF Executive Committee could not start as planned
because some NFF members, including the president, were being held by
security forces for questioning.
“We also note that, despite
these absences, some members decided to hold an impromptu ‘elective
general assembly’ while the delegates were supposed to be deciding on a
new roadmap leading to elections for a new NFF Executive Committee.
“According
to the enclosed reports, 39 out of 44 of the delegates then resolved to
hold an ad-hoc general assembly during which they decided that
elections would be organised for 4 September 2014 and elected new
members to the electoral committees.
“Finally, we have learnt
that the persons who claim to have been elected during the so-called
‘elective general assembly’ have come to the NFF offices claiming to be
the legitimate president and members of the NFF. It also appears that
the Ministry of Sports has recognised them.
“As stated
previously, FIFA deems the general assembly to be the highest
decision-making body of any football association and that its decisions
are consequently binding, provided that these comply with the member
association’s own statutes.
“According to the facts reported to
us, it appears that the vast majority of the NFF members decided to set
the elections for 4 September 2014 and we consider this decision to be
valid since it was taken by the highest decision-making body (the NFF
general assembly) and conforms to what has been previously reported to
FIFA.
“As a consequence, we will not recognise the outcome of the
above mentioned elections and should there still be persons claiming to
have been elected and occupying the NFF offices at midnight on Monday 1
September 2014, we will bring the case to the appropriate FIFA body for
sanctions, which may include the suspension of the NFF.
“We ask
you to inform all parties concerned accordingly and we thank you in
advance for keeping us informed of any developments in the situation. In
particular, we would like you to confirm that the date of 4 September
2014 will be met because the timing seems very short,” it concluded.
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