NFF elections to hold in Benin despite court injunction

The much-anticipated Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) elections will hold as scheduled despite the court order stopping it from holding.

This was confirmed after the sports minister, Sunday Dare held a meeting with the eleven candidates for the position of president at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

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It will be recalled that Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja had recently stopped the election billed to hold on September 30 in Benin City, Edo State.

This move came after the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria filed a suit against the federation over unequal representation of all the five statutory bodies making up the NFF in terms of voting rights and representation on the NFF Board, its Congress and sub-standing committees.

Speaking after the meeting, Head of Safety and Security of the Confederation of African Football, Dr. Christian Emeruwa hailed the minister for convening the meeting.

“It was good the minister held this meeting.  We will be having the elections. The show must go on as fixed, “ he said.

Also, the first Vice President of NFF, Barr Seyi Akinwunmi said the electoral committee will make its position known on the elections.

“We had a heart-to-heart discussion and as you can see, we are all smiling. There was no rancour in the meeting. As for the court case, the electoral committee will decide if the elections will hold or not,” he said.

Similarly, the Chairman of the FCT Football Association, Mallam Adam Mouktar Mohammed expressed his optimism that the court case will be vacated before the elections.  

“We expect that there will be some decisions that the electoral committee will look at like advice from the security agencies. We have a few days to go and the court case can be vacated. It’s an ongoing discussion and in the next few days, we will hear more. At the end of the day, we hope there will be a credible process and everyone will accept,” he said.

In his own remarks, President of Team Nigeria UK (TNUK), David-Buhari Doherty said he was done with campaigns as he is looking forward to the contest.

“As it is now, I’m done with campaigns. We hope in the next few days, we will get something positive,” he stated.