UNENDING CRISIS IN FOOTBALL HOUSE:

A Sports Minister’s u-turn

 Chris Giwa’s attempt to seize the reins of power at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) last week after securing a ruling from the Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State has brought to the fore once again the naivety of the nation’s sports ministers on football matters. Giwa, owner of Premier League side, Giwa FC has been in the news since 2014 following his purported election as NFF President on August 26, 2014 in Abuja. He polled 27 votes to defeat former vice president Mike Umeh who got two votes in an election where 29 out of 44 members participated in the voting exercise. *SHAME! The warring parties, Chris Giwa and Amaju Pinnick in fisticuffs. *SHAME! The warring parties, Chris Giwa and Amaju Pinnick in fisticuffs. But the process was flawed in its entirety because it was not coordinated, as stipulated by the Federation of International Football associations (FIFA) by either the then sitting president of the NFF, Aminu Maigari or the general secretary Barrister Amadu who, among many others, walked out of the Congress hall at the Chida International Hotels. First, election was not in the agenda. The then minister, not the federation initiated the congress. And despite the recognition of Giwa as Maigari’s successor by the then Sports Minister, Dr. Tamuno Danagogo, FIFA went ahead to rightly cancel the election on August 29. It went further to warn that it would ban Nigeria if Giwa and his new executive committee failed to vacate their seats. That warning whipped Danagogo back to the line, as he disowned Giwa’s election, urging him to vacate office and contest for the real election, slated to hold on September 30 in Warri, Delta State, from where the former Chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission, Amaju Pinnick emerged NFF President. Pinnick’s ascension to the highest position in football administration in Nigeria was duly ratified by FIFA but Giwa went to a federal high court in Jos, to obtain a ruling pronouncing him NFF President but FIFA maintained its stance, stating that it was not answerable to a ruling of an ordinary court of law but to the Court of arbitration for Sports (CAS) Giwa withdrew his case from court and headed for CAS in Lausanne, who subsequently dismissed it for lack of merit, in effect upholding Pinnick’s victory at the September 30 poll in Warri. But like a bolt from the dead, Giwa went to the same Federal High Court, Jos on April 8, obtaining a ruling reinstating him as the President of the NFF. This followed initial moves by the current sports minister, Solomo Dalung to reconcile Pinnick and Giwa, which degenerated to a free for all on January 21. The meeting called by Dalung had all the trappings of reopening the already settled leadership crisis in the NFF, taking a dangerous turn when the Pinnick and Giwa almost engaged each other in fisticuffs. It was a big show of shame, bringing to the fore the unenviable roles played by Nigeria’s Sports Ministers in the rubbishing of the country’s sporting image in the eyes of the world. And it got even worse recently when the current sports minister, Solomon Dalung in his first first reaction to last Friday’s court ruling told feuding parties in the NFF crisis to respect the court ruling, vis-a-vis, okaying the sacking of Pinnick and reinstatement of Giwa as NFF president. Dalung’s stunning statement, as contained in his twitter handle said “the rule of law must prevail and all parties must respect the verdict”. It went viral. He then fuelled the growing feud when in a statement he urged both parties to be guided by law, inter alia Jos court ruling. “This current administration believes in the rule of law and all of our actions must be guided by the provisions of the law. Therefore, anything that suggests the contrary will not be in the interest of the nation.’’ The minister was not done yet. He said that the Pinnick-led executive committee had a 30-day right to appeal the court decision. “The decision of the court will only take effect if the right to appeal expires and the Pinnick-led board fails to exercise its right. It will be out of place for any group of persons who have enjoyed the protection of the law to now turn round and want to deny the other party of their own right”, added Dalung in the statement issued by the Ministry of Sports. His remarks were considered infuriating and showed total lack of the way football operates globally. Attacks came flying from everywhere. The football community rose in unison to condemn him for displaying a total lack of understanding of the appropriate path for Giwa to channel his grouse with the current NFF board. Nigerians also questioned the minister’s seeming poor understanding of the right path to settle sports disputes, a sad commentary on the people running Nigeria’s sports. With a tidal wave of attacks hauled at him, it probably dawned on Dalung that the public saw him as an enemy of Nigerian football, particularly as it relates to what FIFA could do to Nigeria if Giwa was allowed to take over the reins of power at the Glass House following the court ruling. And the minister would soon be forced to beat a retreat after FIFA threatened to ban Nigeria from all international football, should the Giwa sham be allowed to go unmitigated. In a letter entitled, “Verdict of the Jos High Court,” and addressed to Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick, FIFA warned that the Jos Federal High Court decision, “if implemented, would likely be considered as an interference in the internal affairs of the NFF and the case would be brought to the highest authorities of FIFA for consideration of sanctions, including the suspension of the NFF.” The letter signed by FIFA’s acting Secretary General, Markus Kattner, read in part: “We acknowledge receipt of your correspondence dated April 8, 2016 with regard to the ruling of the Federal High Court in Jos, which apparently nullified the elections of 30 September 2014 of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF). “In this respect, and first of all, we would like to remind you that according to articles 13 and 17 of the FIFA Statutes, all member associations have to manage their affairs independently and with no influence from third parties. In addition and according to article 68 of the FIFA Statutes, recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the FIFA regulations.

Check the Vanguard Newspape for the full story.